FIFA and IFAB will discuss new rules for the future of football, including drastic changes to offside and VAR

Next Saturday, March 1, representatives of FIFA, including FIFA president Gianni Infantino, and IFAB (International Football Association Board), the body responsible for defining the rules of the game, will meet in Glasgow to discuss a series of changes to the rulebook. Some could be true revolutionary, including big changes with the offside.

The main point to discuss would be changing the offside rules, benefitting attackers. According to what some people call "Wenger Law", in honor to Arsenal coach and now Director of Global Football Development at FIFA, an attacker player would only be offside if his whole body is ahead of the line of the last defender.

This would dramatically alter the way many teams play and encourage offensive plays, as well as eliminating the often absurd and frustrating goals ruled out when just a tiny bit of the body of the attacker is ahead of the line of the defender. According to RMC Sport, this rule is already in place since last season in youth tournament in Italy and Sweden.

Referees speaking out loud, Challenger in VAR...

The offside change is not the only topic to be discussed this weekend. Specators of the 2023 Women's World Cup or the 2024 Intercontinental Cup remember that, after checking with VAR, referees announced and explained out loud the decisions they made (and why the made them).

Finally, the meeting will explore the possibility of stopping the clock when the ball is not in play, as well as offering trainers a limited number of "Challenges", allowing them access to VAR when they consider that a refereeing decision is wrong. Two concepts well known for basketball fans, that could be -or not- implemented in football as early as next summer. We will know more after the Glasgow meeting between FIFA and IFAB on March 1...