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Football London
Football London
Sport
Joe Doyle

Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger proposes radical changes to offside law to end VAR controversy

Arsenal legend Arsene Wenger is hoping to rewrite the current offside law in a bid to end VAR controversies.

This season has seen the Premier League plagued by intense arguments following the introduction of VAR, with goals being ruled out by a question of milimetres.

And the Mirror state that former Gunners boss Wenger is proposing radical changes to the offside law.

Wenger feels that under the current rules, the law applies too much favour to defenders, and will amend the laws so that attacking players will be deemed onside if any part of their body is in line with the last opponent.

Premier League chief assesses VAR impact

Wenger joined FIFA in November as head of global football development. And part of his role is said to include working with the International Football Association Board, who govern football's laws.

Wenger stated: "I am in the middle of the controversial situation with VAR and it is clear that the most difficult thing that people have with it is the offside rule.

"You have had offsides by a margin of a fraction of a centimetre, offside literally by a nose.

"I believe it is the time to do this very quickly.

"There is room to change the rule a little bit and not say that a part of a player's nose is offside, so you are offside because you can score with that.

"Instead, you will not be offside if any part of the body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender - even if other parts of the attacker's body are in front.

"That will sort it out because you will no longer have decisions about millimetres and a fraction of the attacker being in front of the defensive line."

FIFA are also said to be eyeing other changes to VAR, including a demand that stadiums in all major leagues install screens to display information about the decisions under review.

Currently, the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United do not have large video screens on which decisions can be relayed to fans.

Wenger says another change he would like to see is former players making decisions.

"At the moment, in what is the first period when we have used this technology, there are not enough VAR specialists who can cover every game over the weekend," he stated at the Laureus Sports Awards.

"It will be improved very quickly if we can change the protocols, so that we can use former players in the VAR room."

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