Offside rule: FIFA considers a change

World 30 December 2025 at 05:08

Joshua SOSSOU

News Editor

FIFA is considering new changes to the offside rule.

On Monday, FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced in Dubai that the organization is studying new changes to football’s laws to make the game "more attacking and more attractive." This statement came during the World Sports Summit. Infantino recalled the introduction of VAR to correct refereeing errors and emphasized that technology continues to evolve to help referees make better decisions. The FIFA president also stressed the importance of minimizing interruptions to keep the game flowing smoothly.

But among the proposals being considered is a reform of the offside rule. According to the current rule, an attacker is offside if any part of their body that can play the ball is ahead of the last defender. "Let’s take the example of the offside law, which has evolved over the years, requiring the attacker to be behind or in line with the defender: maybe in the future, they will need to be completely ahead of the defender to be offside," Infantino said. In the future, FIFA could only consider a player offside when the attacker is entirely beyond the last defender, thus favoring attacking play and increasing goal-scoring opportunities.