Enjoy giving out about offside decisions? Then this is great news.
As the countdown to the new Premier League season continues (47 days) we have some very annoying news. The current offside rule, which is overly complex to say the least, has just been tweaked, but we’re not sure it is going to be any clearer for fans or players.
The change by FIFA, which comes into effect across the game from yesterday, attempts to clear up the confusion over whether players are ‘interfering with an opponent’ but it might just make it worse.
The old law said that: “interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movement or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.
The new law states that: “interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movement or challenging an opponent for the ball.
The change at least removes the burden of deciding on whether a defender has been deceived or distracted but the phrase ‘challenging an opponent for the ball’ is very vague too and we’re sure to see this cause problems sooner or later.
The law regarding the ball coming back off the bar or after a deflection has also been changed so now if a player receives the ball from one of these two scenarios or from a deliberate save, and is offside at the time, the linesman must raise their flag.
At least the fourth officials won’t have Fergie screaming in their ear when the inevitable cock-up happens this season.
