UEFA will introduce thicker lines for offside decisions reviewed in the Champions League and Europa League by Video Assistant Referees [VARs], in a bid to encourage more goals from next season.
The new lines, which may yet be used in this summer's European Championships, can be used under the existing laws of football.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says he has been in talks with the organisation's refereeing officials to roll out the changes to ensure sides are not "ruined" by one wrong decision.
"One centimetre offside is not offside," said Ceferin, in an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News. "Because that's not the meaning of the rule. And it has to be clear and obvious mistake for VAR to intervene.
"So, thicker lines are essential because the line is drawn subjectively. So, it's not exact and if one centimetre… you ruin the season of a club with one wrong decision. And, for me, the handball is also problematic, but I don't know what exactly to do about it. We are discussing a lot with our referee officers."
Lines are currently 12cms thick. Wonder what the thickness will increase to?
It's easy - make the lines one mile thick.
A player is called offside if he is either :-
Obviously and indisputably in an offside position when viewed with the naked eye by the referee or by VAR.
OR
Video evidence demonstrates he is more than one mile offside even though this is not obvious to the naked eye.
This is what the original laws always intended and I believe it mirrors the way they do it in Rugby.
If you're not sure whether a player is offside and you feel the need to measure it, then by definition he isn't offside!
And yet you'll still get pundits, fans, players, managers all moaning that an offside in one game was given as a goal yet in game two was ruled offside despite being the exact same scenario.
Its all about interpretation from the bloke in charge
I've long come to accept that VAR cant bring perfection to the Sport that people want , there are too many possible scenarios and that people should stop looking for perfection... It aint and cant happen!!
I still believe the game would be better without VAR, sadly looks like its here to stay.
Was just thinking the same. I thoroughly enjoyed the game so much more pre var than I do now even if it does mean a decision going against us but it's not about my enjoyment anymore.
Can anyone say they enjoy the game more now with var than before?
I still believe the game would be better without VAR, sadly looks like its here to stay.
I think VAR can be made to work but first football authorities have to aim for fairer rather than perfection. Perfection is unachievable. If you look at Cricket, they use technology well but captains have an input. If a captain misses out because he uses up his appeals or because he decides not to appeal a decision, it is not dwelled on and is considered part of the game.
As I've said before keep the goal line technology and bin the rest. VAR was supposed to erradicate errors but it is still down to individual opinion. Just rely on the opinion of the on field referee warts an all.
"Just 4% of fans think VAR has had a positive impact on the team they support, 78% think it’s been more negative."
Brilliant look into the psychology of humans.
I bet if before VAR you asked about opinions of referees, it would be exactly the same.
So all that money for no improvement then?
Yea but at least we now get the drama from a couple of chaps miles away in front of a screen spotting the pull of a shirt at the opposite end of the pitch to disallow a 90th minute winner draining the emotion from the spectators. What's not to like 🤭
I hate VAR and even with its introduction there are still disputes. It's made the game more sterile and less of a spectacle.
The press and pundits constantly criticise referees so VAR was inevitable yet they're still moaning.
Sport is imperfect and that has always been part of it. It's an escape from technology.
That is the problem. If football tried to make things better but accept they can't make it perfect they would implement it better. There are issues outside of VAR like the total mess the law relating to hand ball has become. I'd like to see everything stripped out and leave it to the ref to decide whether a player intended to handle the ball or not.
Being offside by a knee cap or nipple seems ridiculous and actually is.
How a player or official can judge that is beyond anyone's ability.
If a foot or leg is beyond defence , fine but frankly the way it is used now VAR should be limited to balls crossing lines.
Yes, the technology, whilst clearly being accurate has made some offisides look ridiculous. Maybe there is a case for the rules to be changed to fall in line with the technology like allow a five centimetre leeway which the computer can easily calculate in the moment.
Maybe should take a leaf out of the NFL where each team has 1 appeal to use?
I think this is the way forwards. But you have to give up the principal that every decision will be a perfect one. if a team uses up its appeal in cricket it doesn't generally complain or moan about a wrong decision and that is the sort of mindset I think football needs to get into. Use technology automatically for offsides and goal line but then allow the team a tool to prevent a major miscarriage of justice.
Being offside by a knee cap or nipple seems ridiculous and actually is.
How a player or official can judge that is beyond anyone's ability.
If a foot or leg is beyond defence , fine but frankly the way it is used now VAR should be limited to balls crossing lines.
Or how you can tell the exact moment in time that a ball is last touching the passing players foot? Does it count if the ball is skimming the players laces or does the ball have to be in full contact over an area of at least a square millimetre? They never show how they manage to work this out but they do show millimetre thin lines across frozen players hairy kneecaps. It's a joke!
Like all engineering solutions, there's a tolerance concerning the ball crossing a line - it's NOT exact whatever they say. But I'll accept that - it certainly doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the game.
Maybe should take a leaf out of the NFL where each team has 1 appeal to use?
Don't think it would work for multiple reasons but I would certainly be happy if they gave it a try.
Would be happy to be proved wrong.
If a winning goal is scored in the last minute of a game, at least fans would know beforehand whether they had to wait for an appeal before they could celebrate.
Being offside by a knee cap or nipple seems ridiculous and actually is.
How a player or official can judge that is beyond anyone's ability.
If a foot or leg is beyond defence , fine but frankly the way it is used now VAR should be limited to balls crossing lines.
Or how you can tell the exact moment in time that a ball is last touching the passing players foot? Does it count if the ball is skimming the players laces or does the ball have to be in full contact over an area of at least a square millimetre? They never show how they manage to work this out but they do show millimetre thin lines across frozen players hairy kneecaps. It's a joke!
Like all engineering solutions, there's a tolerance concerning the ball crossing a line - it's NOT exact whatever they say. But I'll accept that - it certainly doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the game.
Maybe should take a leaf out of the NFL where each team has 1 appeal to use?
Don't think it would work for multiple reasons but I would certainly be happy if they gave it a try.
Would be happy to be proved wrong.
If a winning goal is scored in the last minute of a game, at least fans would know beforehand whether they had to wait for an appeal before they could celebrate.
They may have used there appeal by then?
I do get your point though but I also think it's worth a try as the way VAR is being used now is, IMHO, not very good.
Being offside by a knee cap or nipple seems ridiculous and actually is.
How a player or official can judge that is beyond anyone's ability.
If a foot or leg is beyond defence , fine but frankly the way it is used now VAR should be limited to balls crossing lines.
Yes, the technology, whilst clearly being accurate has made some offisides look ridiculous. Maybe there is a case for the rules to be changed to fall in line with the technology like allow a five centimetre leeway which the computer can easily calculate in the moment.
That still wont take away the fact a goal can be scored. The linesman flag stays down. Both teams get in position for kick off. Only for a message to come up on the big screen saying 'Var checking potential offside'
Then we get the lines, camera angles come out to check that its 4cm,5cm,6cm etc.
Back in the good old days I would celebrate and sometimes take a quick look at the lino to see him running back to the halfway line knowing we had just scored or I'd see the lino with his flag up knowing it would instantly be ruled out. Some were right and some were wrong but I'd take that back in a heartbeat.
Being offside by a knee cap or nipple seems ridiculous and actually is.
How a player or official can judge that is beyond anyone's ability.
If a foot or leg is beyond defence , fine but frankly the way it is used now VAR should be limited to balls crossing lines.
Yes, the technology, whilst clearly being accurate has made some offisides look ridiculous. Maybe there is a case for the rules to be changed to fall in line with the technology like allow a five centimetre leeway which the computer can easily calculate in the moment.
That still wont take away the fact a goal can be scored. The linesman flag stays down. Both teams get in position for kick off. Only for a message to come up on the big screen saying 'Var checking potential offside'
Then we get the lines, camera angles come out to check that its 4cm,5cm,6cm etc.
Back in the good old days I would celebrate and sometimes take a quick look at the lino to see him running back to the halfway line knowing we had just scored or I'd see the lino with his flag up knowing it would instantly be ruled out. Some were right and some were wrong but I'd take that back in a heartbeat.
I'd be curious to know how many they got wrong - I never felt the figures were that bad.
Being offside by a knee cap or nipple seems ridiculous and actually is.
How a player or official can judge that is beyond anyone's ability.
If a foot or leg is beyond defence , fine but frankly the way it is used now VAR should be limited to balls crossing lines.
Yes, the technology, whilst clearly being accurate has made some offisides look ridiculous. Maybe there is a case for the rules to be changed to fall in line with the technology like allow a five centimetre leeway which the computer can easily calculate in the moment.
That still wont take away the fact a goal can be scored. The linesman flag stays down. Both teams get in position for kick off. Only for a message to come up on the big screen saying 'Var checking potential offside'
Then we get the lines, camera angles come out to check that its 4cm,5cm,6cm etc.
Back in the good old days I would celebrate and sometimes take a quick look at the lino to see him running back to the halfway line knowing we had just scored or I'd see the lino with his flag up knowing it would instantly be ruled out. Some were right and some were wrong but I'd take that back in a heartbeat.
I'd be curious to know how many they got wrong - I never felt the figures were that bad.
I'm sure the rights would have outdone the wrongs but even so it's part and parcel of the game. We come home from a match and see it on tv and make a decision for ourselves. I'd imagine they would even themselves out over the season.
The biggest killer now is the not knowing if it's going to go to var after you've just hugged random fans and fallen down the steps. Imagine var at wembley against Sunderland. Players just about to kick off after bfg scored. Only for a couple of refs a few miles down the road to say pearce was climbing all over the sunderland player, goal ruled out.
Comments
Its all about interpretation from the bloke in charge
I've long come to accept that VAR cant bring perfection to the Sport that people want , there are too many possible scenarios and that people should stop looking for perfection... It aint and cant happen!!
Can anyone say they enjoy the game more now with var than before?
Survey: Fans say they will attend fewer games because of VAR
https://thefsa.org.uk/news/survey-fans-say-they-will-attend-fewer-games-because-of-var/Brilliant look into the psychology of humans.
Fans will moan regardless.
The press and pundits constantly criticise referees so VAR was inevitable yet they're still moaning.
Sport is imperfect and that has always been part of it. It's an escape from technology.
Like all engineering solutions, there's a tolerance concerning the ball crossing a line - it's NOT exact whatever they say. But I'll accept that - it certainly doesn't spoil my enjoyment of the game.
Don't think it would work for multiple reasons but I would certainly be happy if they gave it a try.
Would be happy to be proved wrong.
If a winning goal is scored in the last minute of a game, at least fans would know beforehand whether they had to wait for an appeal before they could celebrate.
I do get your point though but I also think it's worth a try as the way VAR is being used now is, IMHO, not very good.
Then we get the lines, camera angles come out to check that its 4cm,5cm,6cm etc.
Back in the good old days I would celebrate and sometimes take a quick look at the lino to see him running back to the halfway line knowing we had just scored or I'd see the lino with his flag up knowing it would instantly be ruled out. Some were right and some were wrong but I'd take that back in a heartbeat.
The rules literally state anything beyond the defender that can touch the ball legally is offside. They're just going by the rules.
The biggest killer now is the not knowing if it's going to go to var after you've just hugged random fans and fallen down the steps. Imagine var at wembley against Sunderland. Players just about to kick off after bfg scored. Only for a couple of refs a few miles down the road to say pearce was climbing all over the sunderland player, goal ruled out.
Basically proven my point.