Arsène Wenger, who currently holds the position of director of development of world football at FIFA, revealed today, during a meeting with the press in Paris, that the offside could be indicated in an “automated way in 2022”, the year in which will celebrate the World Cup in Qatar.
“There is a good chance that offside will be automated in 2022,” Wenger said without revealing how such a technological advance will be applied. “I am obliged to keep it a secret, but it will be the next of the great evolutions of refereeing,” the former Arsenal and Monaco coach did advance on the eve of the refereeing days to be held from October 20.
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Some statements that occur just two days after the controversial goal by Kylian Mbappé that decided the final of the Nations League in favor of France against Spain (1-2). The forward received the ball in a forward position but the VAR conceded the goal because Eric Garcia touched the ball earlier.
Although offside decisions are currently made using video refereeing (VAR), Wenger suggests that technology intervention can act at a higher speed, in an automated way, to resolve contentious situations during matches.
FIFA launched the idea in 2020
This change is already being processed by FIFA after it announced in June 2020 that it was considering “developing semi-automated technology to signal offside, in order to provide the VAR with additional information that would simplify the referee’s decision-making and optimize the image analysis “.
Therefore, according to Wenger’s statements today, the implementation of the project should be accelerated with a view to the World Cup in Qatar, which will take place from November 21 to December 18, 2022.
His arguments for a World Cup every two years
Wenger is also in the news for his idea of holding a World Cup every two years, instead of four as today. A project that has aroused strong opposition in certain sectors of world football, led by UEFA.
Wenger said today “to be open” and “understand the reluctance because there is an emotional aspect” around the tournament. “The reform that I propose is part of a calendar reform. I want to reduce the number of qualifying matches,” argued the Alsatian.
“With the biennial World Cup we could have a great competition every year”
“If prestige is linked to the distance between competitions, it would be necessary to organize the World Cup every eight years,” Wenger joked, reaffirming his conviction that “we could have a great competition every year”, alternating the World Cup with continental tournaments such as the European Championship or the Copa América, “with 25 days of rest previously guaranteed” to preserve the players.
FIFA is due to publish a full report on this issue in November before a world summit before the end of the year to decide whether or not to introduce the reform.