New Offside Rule?

[WestburyRed]

Just caught the tail end of a bit on The Prem discussing a new offside rule, what is it? I can't find anything on the FIFA site.

Still annoyed with Van Nistelroy's tactics, if he is stood in an offside position for half the match I personally feel he is interfering with play, as defenders have to keep a watchful eye on him, and adjust their game and position accordingly.

[94th Minute]

I think its if your in a red shirt and your in the oppositions half your offside.

It worked with man utd yesterday and it works with city every week

[Dan Of The Dolman]

Here is the official press release from FIFA, FIFA want more attacking footy from the sounds of it

October 29, 2003

OFFSIDE RULE - NEW FIFA GUIDELINES

FIFA has circulated soccer's national associations with new recommendations on how referees should handle offside decisions.The proposals have already been tested this season on an informal basis in Italy's Serie A. Assistant referee's will now have to wait until the end of a move before signaling a passive player off-side. The new guidlines mean that offside will not be signalled for uninvolved players who do not directly block the vision or restrict the movement of an opponent and who do not touch the ball. This is not a rule change but an attempt to define more precisely what is meant by 'interfering with play.' The new guidline states "that offside for interfering with play means - playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team mate." And that offside for interfering with play means,"preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball, for example, by clearly obstructing the goalkeeper's line of vision or movements" or "making a gesture or movement while standing in the path of the ball to deceive or distract an opponent." A player will be deemed to have gained an advantage from an offside position if he "plays a ball that rebounds off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position" or "plays a ball that rebounds off an opponent having been in an offside position". FIFA hopes that these new guidelines will improve the game by allowing more attacking play

[WestburyRed]

Ah right, so Van Nistelwhatever is well in the clear now then. Seems a bit bloody stupid that new "recommendation", I'm sure more and more players will find ways to exploit that even further now, especially as it now seems impossible for a linesman to make an acccurate decision.

[Guest pogue mahone]

Sorry to do so, but this recent complaining about the current interpretation of the offside rule has me shouting at the TV.

After RvN's goal against Southampton last week and Henry's against Wolves on Saturday, alot of time on the various football shows have been allotted to the offside rule. Basically there's consensus among the pundits that it should return to its original application ie. player offside means flag goes up.

Now, imagine you made a point of counting the number of times an offside situation occurred. Say it was 14. The number of times the flag actually went up was 4. If we returned to the old interpretation, that was ten occasions when a player, doing absolutely nothing, would have to be flagged just for having been in an offside position. That would be about 30 offsides per game, most of which would be for a player doing very little other than just being in an offside position, perhaps 20 or 30 yards away from the action.

Do pundits or fans even think about this? Do they want a return to the Arsenalesque arms-up-in-unison defending? Do they not realise that that's what will happen? Do they not realise that throughout the course of 90 minutes the game will be stopped about 20 times for offsides that merely existed and had no bearing on the passage of play that was occurring at the time? The rule changes in the last 15 years have improved the game greatly, and the offside rule's allowing for players not interfering with play to be disregarded has proven to be one of the best.

Another question I have to ask is why this only seems to be a problem in Britain? Across Europe there has been a greater acceptance of the recent changes in the rule's application, but seemingly not in Britain. I think managers and coaches are guilty in this respect. That gobshite that manages Sunderland said on Sunday morning that the problem is that players and managers don't know the rule. Why is that? Is it not a managers duty to know the rules and any changes that are made, and to instruct his players on this? That's the difference between the English Premiership and the other top leagues acrooss Europe. In England, people still haven't grasped the important aspect of the offside rule - That is, IT IS NOT AN OFFENCE TO BE IN AN OFFSIDE POSITION. Thats why Henry and RvN are drifting into offside positions and not permanently concerning themselves with being onside because they know that just because they are offside does not necessarily mean that the flag will go up. Wenger and Ferguson know this.It's one of the few issues that they rarely complain about. They know that if they want to be successful in Europe then you accept the way the laws are applied and adapt best you can. Last night Ally McCoist said that teams defensive habits and training methods are going to be in turmoil because of this. Its called adaptation. Ferguson and Wenger have done it. Its a pity for the English game that the likes of Strachan, Jones et al prefer to scream ignorant condemnation instead of understanding the application of the rule, the reason it is applied as such, and that it would be best to coach your players accordingly.

[gater2]

I really hope teams don't start trying to be clever all the time like Southampton and Bolton. I was at Oxford v S****horpe last night (2 goals for Torpey !!) and both sides tried it, not to very good effect, and to be honest it was a waste of time. It's not really playing the game properly and I hope this little phase passes quickly.