Goals should not be ruled out because an armpit was ahead of the last defender but issues with remote refereeing run deeper
Thank goodness for Arsène Wenger. It is about time someone with a genuine appreciation of the game stepped in to prevent VAR’s remote officials tying themselves in unnecessary knots over something as straightforward as the offside rule.
What Wenger is suggesting, in his capacity as Fifa’s head of global development, is a slight variation on the concept of daylight between an attacking player and the last defender. The former Arsenal manager believes that if any part of a player’s body that can score a goal is level or onside – ie anything except hand or arm – he should not be ruled offside and we can stop chalking off perfectly good goals because an armpit or a big toe was millimetres ahead of the last defender.
Related: Arsène Wenger uses Fifa role to propose new offside law amid marginal VAR calls
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