Marco Van Basten insists on scrapping of offside rule

FIFA Technical Director, Marco van Basten, has restated his desire to see the offside rule abolished from football.


Earlier this month, the former Holland and AC Milan star, called for offside calls and yellow cards to be scrapped and advocated for sin-bins to be introduced into the game in future.

Van Basten was employed by FIFA in September 2015, to handle all technical areas from technology to refereeing. And some of his long-term plans for the game, is to scrap some of its most established rules.

“We must keep looking for ways to improve the game,” Van Basten said in an interview with Sport Bild.

“To make it more honest, more dynamic, more interesting, so that what we offer is attractive enough.

“There are lots of variations which need to be tested in the coming years.”

In a new interview with Voetbal International, Van Basten maintained any changes would have to be approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which next meets in March.

“I’ve seen a lot of nonsense in the media,” he said.

“A project of 10 steps? Where did that come from?

“I named a few things we are seriously working on, but that wasn’t 10. Apparently, someone included a few things I’ve said in the past and then it’s all published in the wrong way.

“We’re working on a couple of things, for example a solution for time wasting at the end of a match, protesting against the referees, a fourth substitution in extra time, the successful test with video referees and the permission to use electronic equipment on the bench, like a laptop.

“In the end, the IFAB will decide what happens: if they approve it or enter a test period. At the start of March, there will be a decision about these plans.”

He also made it clear that his opinions about those laws at this stage were totally personal.

“Someone asked me about my personal opinion. It’s going to be better without that annoying rule.” he said.

“I’m convinced by that. You can already see it’s a delicate rule, because critics immediately say that strikers will stay in the penalty area to wait for the ball, as you see when little kids are playing football.

“But I don’t think that will happen too much. Teams will create more chances.”

He added: “I don’t mind if there’s a lot of discussion, because that’s the intention. I just hope people will notice the difference between specific plans or little tests.”