The drastic change that FIFA is considering and could revolutionize the offside rule

Football , which may once have been the team sport with the simplest rules, has been swept up in modern times and continues to innovate in its regulations year after year. Whether in search of new audiences, greater excitement or simply to fix the mistakes it itself falls into, new rules and their interpretation are announced every season.

The next developments will be studied by FIFA, the world's governing body for football, on March 1st through its specialized body, the IFAB. There will be four changes on the table that could alter football as we know it today .

After evaluating each of the four proposed points, if they are approved, they would begin to be implemented in lower divisions and grassroots football starting next summer .

FIFA will consider the possibility of referees explaining their most controversial decisions, those in which they have to consult the VAR, through a microphone that broadcasts their voice to the entire stadium.

In order to reduce the number of video referee interventions in matches, the option of having the coaches decide when the VAR should come into play will also be considered at the working table. This is already done in other sports dependent on FIFA, such as futsal, where coaches have two opportunities to request a review of the play, which they keep if they are right and lose if they are wrong.

Another possibility to be discussed on the first day of March will be to give referees the power to stop the clock to investigate a contentious situation or in cases of serious injury. This initiative, which would bring football closer to indoor sports such as basketball or futsal, is part of the federation's fight against time-wasting.

If any of the rule changes could have the biggest impact on the fundamentals of the beautiful game, it is the one affecting offside. Taking up the gauntlet thrown down by former Arsenal manager and current FIFA development director Arsene Wenger , the IFAB will study whether the "offside" rule applies when the forward's body completely overtakes the defender's body .

A change that could affect the game, as it would be difficult for defenders to control opponents who were positioned slightly behind them but without overtaking them. On paper, it would make defensive tasks more difficult and could lead to an increase in goal-scoring opportunities.