Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, has suggested a change to the offside law, giving greater advantage to the attacking team, could be rubberstamped in a year.
The former Arsenal manager first proposed changing to a “daylight” offside law five years ago, when he took up the role with FIFA. Rather than an attacker needing to be level or behind the second-last opposition player, the idea is they can be ahead — as long as at least some part of the body is level.
There will always be situations where a player is offside by one millimetre, no matter what system you use, as it’s a binary law.
However, after years of low-key trials, a change to offside hasn’t moved any closer. The IFAB, football’s lawmakers, have remained committed to testing changes to encourage more goals, with offside a topic on the agenda on each of its meetings over the past few seasons.
In March, the IFAB [International Football Association Board] committed to “proactively identify competitions to conduct additional offside trials with a view to fostering attacking football and encouraging goal-scoring opportunities while maintaining the game’s attractiveness.”
Wenger believes these trials could finally see his idea become part of the game. The last time there was a major alteration to offside was in 1990, until which time an attacker had to be behind the second-last opponent rather than level.
“It was in 1990 after the World Cup in Italy when there were no goals scored,” Wenger told Bein Sports. “We decided that there is no offside any more when you are on the same line of the defender.
“In case of doubt, the doubt benefits the striker. That means when there’s a fraction, the striker did get the advantage. With VAR this advantage disappeared and for many people it’s frustrating.
“That’s why I proposed that as long as any part of your body is on the same line as the defender, you’re not offside.
“We are experimenting with it now. In one year, the decision will be made, by the IFAB, not by me.”
Initial trials of Wenger’s idea haven’t been successful, with concerns that it gives too much to the attacking team and worries that it would have a negative impact tactically. There’s no guarantee that such a switch would bring more goals, it could in fact lead to fewer as defences drop into deeper positions.
A change within a year is unrealistic due to the IFAB meeting cycle — any law changes to be approved are agreed in December, then voted on in March — while it would also have to be tested in competitive leagues.
The modification to the law for a goalkeeper holding the ball was exceptionally quick. Trials were first announced in April 2024, with the law changed in March 2025 for implementation in the 2025-26 season. Yet that was a relatively minor law change to combat timewasting, with trials held in three non-professional leagues.
Changing offside to this degree would be so seismic that testing would have to take place at a higher level, though not in top divisions or competitions. That there isn’t even the protocol for such trials, along with the IFAB timeline, suggests it’s not viable for the the law to change within even two years
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