Football

IFAB makes adjustments to Offside rule

The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has made a small change to the offside rule, thanks to the efforts of a Swedish football club.

In 2023, Torns IF, a team from Sweden’s third division, found a mistake in the footnote of the offside rule. The club noticed that a player could delay a pass without being offside, as the rule only looked at the first time the ball was touched.

Torns IF felt this was wrong and spent two years trying to get IFAB to fix it. After much effort, IFAB finally agreed and changed the rule to remove the loophole. IFAB’s technical director, David Elleray, thanked the club for their hard work.

The old rule meant a player could trap the ball, wait, and then pass to a teammate without being offside — because the first contact was when the ball was stopped, not when the pass was made. Torns IF made a video showing the problem and shared it on YouTube in 2023. The video quickly went viral, drawing attention to the issue.

At first, IFAB did not act. But after more pressure from the club, they finally made the rule clearer.

What Did They Say?

Torns IF player Tim Nielsen said:
“IFAB needed a bit of convincing, but we got there in the end.”

He also said that the use of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) helped bring more clarity to these types of situations. However, some people still think VAR slows the game down.

What’s Next?

Now that the offside rule is clearer, IFAB is looking at ways to make VAR faster and more efficient, especially after some controversial incidents — like the injury to Taiwo Awoniyi from Nottingham Forest.

Torns IF will play FBK Balkan in their next match on 13 June 2025.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
oldest
newest most voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Related Articles

Back to top button
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x