The laws of football have changed a lot in recent years, and FIFA is looking to make another major change to end any possibility of human error in offside decisions.

Arsene Wenger, head of FIFA's football development department, wants offside decisions to be fully automated, eliminating the decision from the assistant referee or the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) as usual.

"There are a lot of possibilities. I have to keep things secret, but there will be a big development in the refereeing. Everything is studied. (Technology) can even determine whether the 5 or 6 centimeter decision is an offside or not," Wenger told a news conference in Paris. ".

This potential modification to offside comes after the great controversy over the goal of France's 2-1 victory over Spain, which was scored by Kylian Mbappe, to crown the roosters with the European Nations League title.

Mbappe brings France closer to winning 🏆

đź’¬ Was the French star offside? #EuropeanNationalLeague |

#Spain_France #NationsLeague pic.twitter.com/vnzjlI9lwq

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) October 10, 2021

FIFA is seeking to reach an effective technology by next year that makes offside decisions fully automatic through automated judgment, to be approved during the meeting of the International Legislative Council “IFAB” (IFAB) next March, after its trial for approval, which may allow its implementation in World Cup 2022 in Qatar.

VAR has not yet helped solve the offside problems, nor has the Premier League's initiative to use different degrees of lines they draw to end the debate and debate over decisions.

 The picture shows Mbappe infiltrating the moment the ball was passed to him by his teammate (communication sites)

Technology is not the solution

In fact, the technology that Wenger is talking about, had it existed, would not have prevented the controversy and questioning of Mbappe's goal, because everyone, including the referees, is clearly aware of Mbappe's infiltration, but the referees of the mouse considered that playing the ball from Spanish defender Eric Garcia, who tried to remove the ball and actually touch it, but it went to Mbappe , a new game, and Article 11 of the Football Law “Offside” states that in this case play continues even if this attacker is offside.

Italian Roberto Rossetti, head of the UEFA Referees Committee, confirmed that the referees' decision was correct and there is no offside on Mbappe.

The reason why technology is unable to resolve such decisions is that it is discretionary to the rulers based on specific considerations set by the law of the game. As for distances and measurements, technology may help in stopping such errors, although the mouse is almost playing this role now, yet the controversy did not stop but rather It got louder.

the ideal solution

From the point of view of Al Jazeera Net, the ideal solution is to refine the referees themselves and the referees of the mouse, in order to reduce arbitration errors, in addition to educating teams, fans and the media, which repeats statements that are sometimes inaccurate and sometimes inspired by imagination, and it is strange that some even football specialists take them as constants And they promote it, which increases the noisy debate that may result in incorrect emotional decisions.

  • Former international referee