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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Sparky-moon on 2026-01-14 17:45:27+00:00.
Original Title: Arsene Wenger’s offside reforms would be disaster, says ex-World Cup linesman. Darren Cann, the assistant referee at the 2010 World Cup final who officiated at more than 1,000 professional matches before retiring at the end of last season, is “vehemently opposed” to the plan being put forward.
Darren Cann, the assistant referee at the 2010 World Cup final who officiated at more than 1,000 professional matches before retiring at the end of last season, is “vehemently opposed” to the plan being put forward by Wenger, Fifa’s head of global football development.
Cann, 56, said in an interview with The Times: “Regarding the so-called Wenger Law, it would change the offside law so drastically that there would be huge unforeseen consequences.
“I am sure his idea comes from a good place, but I am vehemently opposed to it.”
“From an assistant referee’s point of view, if you are looking across the line it is much easier to see a bit of the attacker’s torso or leg sticking out beyond a defender rather than looking for a tiny sliver of daylight.“
“I believe it would mean more VAR decisions, so more delays, and would make it much harder for an assistant referee to judge if a player is offside or not.“
“We do have the best assistant referees in the world in England and we saw with the FA Cup matches last weekend where there was no VAR that the assistant referees got just about every single offside decision correct. That would be so much harder with a daylight rule.“
“This is not just a kneejerk reaction — I have thought about it very carefully since it was first proposed and if I was still an assistant referee I would have resigned if it had come in.”
Cann, who now works for the BBC advising the broadcaster on the laws of the game, added that players who would be more than a metre offside under the existing law could still be onside under Wenger’s proposal if their back foot is in line with part of the defender’s body or foot.
“That would completely change the way the game is played and it would force defenders to drop much deeper,” he said.
“It would mean more goals, but does football really want more goals? Football is a low-scoring sport, and there is a danger that if it becomes more like basketball then goals will not be celebrated like they are now.”