Having learnt a few days ago that the custodians of the laws of the game of football, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), have released the document of laws for the 2024/25 season, I quickly downloaded the document and jumped straight to that which I believe is one of the most pressing issues in football today – Law 11: Offside.
Disappointingly, the section read exactly the same as it did in the document on the laws of the previous season (2023/24), which means the rules for offside will be implemented in the beautiful game as it was last season and over the last few years. I found it disappointing because I believe the nature of the law in its current form is rather preposterous.
The last two years have convinced me of this, with many goals having been scrapped – with the help of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) – because the scorer or a player involved in the build-up to the goal was in front of the second-last defender by the tiniest of margins.
To give a basic summary, the law stipulates that an attacking player will be judged to be offside when they’re found to be in front of the second-last defender (i.e., the last outfield player of the defending team) at the time that the ball is being played to them. They also have to be in front by a part of their body which can be used to score a legitimate goal, i.e., any part of the body except the arm. If and when they are in front when this action takes place, their ‘interfering with play’ or ‘with an opponent’ will be penalised by the awarding of a free kick to the opposing team.
I assume that the existence of such a law in the sport is to prevent attacking teams from gaining an unfair advantage, and that’s precisely why I find the law so bizarre. Google defines an advantage as a “circumstance that puts one in a favourable or superior position”, which is why I question the thinking that merely being in front of the second-last defender, regardless of the distance by which the attacking player is, gives him/her an advantage. I dare say, it simply isn’t the case in most instances.
Belgium striker Romelu Lukaku certainly didn’t have an unfair advantage in his country’s UEFA Euro group match against Slovakia on Monday when he scored his first of two goals, before it was ruled out due to his being offside. The VAR replays showed that only a side of the Belgian striker’s body was in front when the ball was played to him in the 6-yard box, but the law doesn’t consider that when he received the ball the goalkeeper was already beaten and well out of reach of it, which is why Lukaku was able to easily help it to the back of an empty net.
Such examples show just how flawed the reasoning is in the law.
It is because of this that I found it encouraging to read that IFAB also wrote an invitation for the football community to send them questions and suggestions about the laws in the said document. I duly wrote them a letter this week, expressing my dissatisfaction with the current form of the law and suggesting amendments that would ensure that offside calls are made only when the attacking player has a real advantage. I expressed that that should only be when the advantage gives him/her an unfair headstart in the race with the opposing team.
I suggested that distance metrics be introduced to determine an attacker’s advantage, where a player would be penalised only when they are at least five metres ahead when the ball is being played to them.
I also expressed that it is otherwise silly to think there could be a genuine advantage in a shorter distance between the two players, what with attackers sometimes being judged to be offside even despite their moving in the direction of their own goals!
The IFAB replied to that letter by informing me that, as part of the work they are doing with the world football governing body FIFA, trials are currently being run in order to explore ways of giving more advantage to attacking players. That is encouraging.
It is satisfying to know that various laws are constantly being reviewed to ensure that the game always improves.
* Featured image: The Independent
Khunu on Sports 
Leave a comment