Football’s Offside Rule: A mixed Blessing?

offside rule in soccer

It was perhaps during my early years of gaming on my friend’s PlayStation and during our countless tourneys of Fifa 12 on the console in our summer holidays when I could grasp the true purpose of the Offside rule – it was indeed a double-edged sword. I will elaborate…

After sustaining loses after embarrassing losses, I had to give into the employment of some underhanded tactics – one of them was positioning my striker closer to my friend’s goal line.  It wasn’t long before I found out that my skullduggery was already anticipated by the developers and the offside rule was always in motion. Here’s the fun bit though; there were many times when my buddy broke past my defenses and volleyed that ball into my nets, and then… it was offside… I was able to at least retire with a more honorable loss thanks to this mixed blessing.

Offside rule in football and Its Institution

Beyond that scope of console gaming, the role of the offside rule is significant in the actual on-field action. After all, a simple call for offside could make or break a victory.

Introduced in the 1863, the offside rule was designed to prevent teams exploiting an unfair advantage in the game. In 1863, unless three players of the opposing team, with the exclusion of the goalkeeper in these three, were infront of the player, the player was considered offside. With time, the offside rule went two more modifications- the first in 1925 and the second in the 1990. In the former change, a player was onside if atleast two players (again, excluding the goalkeeper) were infront of the player with the ball whereas in the latter amendment, a player was onside as long as they were in level with the second last player, excluding the goalkeeper.

Offside Rule: The Reasoning

In all three scenarios, the offside whistle would be sounded when a player positioned themselves, deliberately or accidentally, closer to the rivals’ goal line than the rivals’ defender(s) when the ball was played to them by their teammate. This act of positioning before the defenders whilst or before the ball is being passed to them is known as Active Involvement. It is during this unfair utilization that a player is considered offside and penalized with a free kick to the opposing party. As a means of balancing out the evils and virtues of the Offside rule, like any ingenious law, there are, nevertheless, exceptions in place. A player who receives the ball directly from the goal kick is not on the offside (a potent kick like that requires an All-Time-Top – Lev Yashin!); similarly, a player who is closer to the opposition’s goal line and receives the ball from a throw-in, or a corner kick is not offside either.

Offside Rule: Is it Infallible?

The offside rule is multifaceted, and the subtle tenets and exceptions make it complex. The complex something is, the more it is susceptible to manipulation (and controversies). A rule that is as old as the Offside rule can only be almost perfect but not entirely foolproof – that much is evident from the changes that were implemented to the rule. Teams and their managements, in their pursuit to having an edge, often find loopholes to such laws which they use to their advantage and could get away with on accounts of technicality. I suppose that is precisely where VAR comes into play…

The Implementation of VAR

VAR or Video Assistant Referee is a technology-assisted refereeing system designed to help football match referees on the field; a VAR is match official who appraises the relevant video footages and thereby advices the on field referee based on their review of the footage. The idea was imagined in the early 2010s and implemented live in July 2016 in a friendly between FC Eindhoven and PSV. VAR maneuvers under the idea of “minimal interference, maximum benefit” to clear out any confusion in regards to obvious miscalculations and severe missed instances. Consequently, VAR has been employed to evaluate four categories: Goal/ No goal, Penalty/ No penalty, Red Card, and Mistaken Identity which reviews if a yellow or red card was conferred to the wrong player.

The VAR Technology

In some football leagues, offsides are reviewed and decided by the aid of Hawk-eye’s virtual offside ‘line technology’ – Gridline and Crosshair. With the use VAR, officials are able to more accurately assess crucial offside/onside moments during matches that could eventually decide the fate of the match. The facility to check a serious moment from different angles makes the role of VAR significant to ensure marginal calls are refereed with enhanced precision. This has often minimized controversies concerning offside verdicts. Despite all that, the VAR system has succumbed to controversy itself.

VAR and OffSide

The offside rule itself is not without controversy and doubling that with the debates regarding VAR system often creates tension on-field and off-field. Many unanimously agree that VAR impedes the game flow and cause frustration among views and players alike. Critics of the VAR system argue that it has caused the disparaged the fluidity of football and made the whole idea of offside more esoteric than it already is. Regardless of all the debates, disputes, or determined advocacy even, the offside rule bears witness to football’s sophisticated past and its rules. And in spite of all these checks and balances, I was unable to claim a decent victory against my friend during those summers. He insists for a rematch of redemption to soothe my bitter soul… typical gloater!