Overview
- The Premier League refereeing body confirmed a 5-centimeter buffer by using thicker semi-automated offside lines, allowing some ultra-tight calls to stand.
- The adjustment came under the microscope after Liverpool’s equalizer at Fulham, where the official SAOT graphic showed onside as broadcast footage suggested a marginal offside.
- Arsène Wenger’s proposal would deem an attacker offside only if their entire body is beyond the last defender, shifting benefit toward attackers.
- UEFA and the four British football associations have opposed the proposal as too radical, a stance that complicates passage through the lawmaking body.
- Any change to the Laws of the Game requires six of eight IFAB votes—FIFA holds four—while scheduled IFAB meetings on January 20 in London and February 28 in Wales frame the next formal discussions.