Plan for robots to run the line
ROBOT linesman could soon be used in a revolution on offside decisions.
Former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, now FIFA’s chief of global development, made a presentation to lawmakers IFAB about changing offside so that if any part of the body is level then a player is onside.
It is hoped it will make the game more attacking – and plans are also afoot to introduce new automated
technology to help linesmen. A similar system to goal-line technology will be tested in China. It would instantly tell assistant referees if a player is offside in the hope of reducing VAR delays.
Mark Bullingham, the Football Association chief executive, said about changing the offside law: “Everyone felt it was worth a trial and FIFA are lining up a league in China to make that trial.
“We all want to see more goals and excitement but I don’t know whether it will work or produce that, which is the point about having a trial.
“In simple terms on the technology, the linesman would get a signal to them if they are onside or offside and then they would have to decide if they are interfering with play. It’s frustrating for the fans in the stadium to have to wait for decisions so we are all fully behind the trial.”
Football will also change the handball law from the start of next season so that accidental handball by a team-mate in the build-up to a goal no longer applies – the handball will have to be deliberate.
It does not help Fulham, who had Josh Maja’s goal against Tottenham chalked off on Thursday. FIFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina said: “It was not to do with what happened at Craven Cottage because discussions started seven or eight months ago.”
Fulham manager Scott Parker said: “They could at least have left the decision a couple of days when it was not so raw.
“It’s devastating. How that rule has not been set in stone at the start of the season is beyond me.”