One of the new features with which Premier League teams will be confronted this season is a slightly tweaked offside rule.
The change places extra scrutiny on players who might not previously have been deemed as interfering with play. Under the new regulations, issued by football’s law-making body, Ifab, anybody in an offside position who makes an “obvious action” to play the ball but fails to make contact will be flagged offside if it is considered that they impacted upon an opponent’s ability to deal with the situation.
Mike Riley, the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Limited, explained that the change targets “morally” offside actions.
“Previously when someone didn’t touch the ball but obviously impacted on another player, you couldn’t flag them,” he said. “The new guidance says if a player clearly attempts to play the ball, which is close to him and impacts on an opposing player, or if he makes an obvious action that impacts on an opposing player, that can now be penalised as offside.
“It allows those decisions where morally we all thought, ‘That should be offside’ to be penalised. It’s important to say it doesn’t mean everything is offside. Unless you meet those specific criteria we will still keep the flag down. We still have to encourage attacking play.”
The new laws will apply across all leagues and club competitions as well as international fixtures throughout this season.
