Ex-Uefa official: Liverpool may be set for law ‘tweak’ after confirmed news
Liverpool could be affected by a “tweak” in the offside law if the new semi-automated technology is a success at the World Cup later this year.
That is the view of ex-Uefa and Premier League referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the new technology.
As relayed by Sky Sports on Friday (1 July), Fifa confirmed that the semi-automated offside technology will be used in Qatar during the World Cup this winter.
And Hackett has suggested it will raise question marks about the interpretation of the offside law.
He told Football Insider‘s Connor Whitley: “The one area that I am really looking forward to viewing is interfering with an opponent, how it picks that up.
“Gaining an advantage is a pretty simple law, a player in an offside position gains the ball if it’s rebounded off the post or a player.
“It’s interfering with an opponent that creates a debate because it’s subjective. Did that defender attempt to play the ball? We’ve got to see those play out.
“Semi-automated means they are still going to rely on VAR to actually have an overview. It goes back to that whole story, how good is the VAR? Is the VAR more competent than the man in the middle?
“I think they’ve made it very clear that the VAR, in this situation the AVAR, is capable of making the correct decisions.
“For the referee, he’s really taken out of the decision. They are told whether it is offside or not. A little bit like a goal, is it a goal or is it not a goal? He doesn’t even have to question it, if the watch says it is a goal then it’s a goal.
“In this situation, I think it’s really down to the training of the referees.
“Going forward maybe a tweak to the laws of the game is needed to even simplify it further in terms of criteria when interfering with the opponent.”
In other news, a Liverpool 21-year-old has agreed terms with a Premier League club.