Wenger offside law to be trialled in Canadian Premier League from four April | OneFootball

FIFA confirmed that the Canadian Premier League will trial Wenger’s offside law from the start of the new season on four April.

Head coaches will also be able to challenge decisions with a review card.

Under the interpretation, an attacker is onside unless there is visible daylight between him and the second-last defender. If any scoring body part, excluding hands and arms, is level with or behind that defender, the attacker is onside.

The CPL, working with FIFA and with IFAB approval, becomes the first professional league to test the change, intended to favour attacking play. It has previously been used only in youth football.

Arsène Wenger called it an important pilot. He said a professional trial should show whether it improves clarity, flow and attacking intent, with findings to be analysed after the test.

Alongside the trial, the CPL will use Football Video Support, a replay system that requires head coaches to hand a card to the fourth official. Unlike VAR, FVS uses no dedicated video referees and does not trigger automatic checks.

Coaches get a limited number of reviews for clear and obvious errors on goal decisions, penalties, direct red cards and mistaken identity, and must show the card immediately after the incident. Forge host Ottawa in the season opener.

Source: L'Équipe