Arsene Wenger's "daylight" offside trial is unlikely to be extended after receiving little support at the International Football Association Board's (Ifab) assessment panels on Tuesday. The trial, which rules a player onside if any part of the body is level with the second-last opponent, has been operating in the Canadian Premier League (CPL) throughout the year. The regular CPL season finished on Sunday, with mixed results.
The Ifab's football and technical panels, made up of former players, coaches and referees, were told the trial led to a 54% reduction in offside decisions and 13 additional goals across 112 matches. However, it also resulted in the defensive line retreating three metres over the season. The CPL also trialled Football Video Support, a version of VAR that lets coaches challenge decisions twice a game, which helped limit the trial's impact. The biggest effect appeared to be on set-pieces, with defences having to compensate for the "daylight" offside advantage.
There was support for changing the coin toss before a penalty shootout. At present, a toss decides which end a penalty is taken from, and a captain then chooses who takes the first spot-kick, meaning the same team can gain both advantages. The planned change would let the toss winner choose either ends or the first kick, with the opposition captain automatically deciding the other. There was little support for extending the five-second countdown for throw-ins and goal-kicks to free-kicks and corners.
The goalkeeper injury trial in English football was viewed as a success so far. It requires an outfield player to leave the field if a goalkeeper goes down for treatment, ending the tactical timeout that had become prevalent. It has been enforced only twice in 80 Premier League games. The technical panels meetings were the first step toward potential law changes for the 2027-28 season, and lawmakers are eager to avoid too many changes after the modifications made ahead of the World Cup.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing