Samuel Chukwueze was denied two goals by a matter of millimetres during yesterday’s 3-3 draw against Sassuolo, sparking discussions about the offside rule.
Chukwueze had the ball in the net twice at the Mapei Stadium and both times VAR intervened to call them offside, though the stills from the technology suggested there was very little in both calls.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport writes, the idea behind the introduction of the ‘semi-automatic offside’ was that it would remove all doubt and subjectivity, removing any element of debate because of the technology available.
The two goals disallowed for Chukwueze generated an ocean of controversy on social media, especially over the second goal. These discussions remain ongoing because ultimately Milan did not win, too.
Remembering that hands and arms (but the upper part of the shoulder counts) are not counted as extremities punishable for offside, the so-called concept of there being a gap between the forward and the last defender – loudly requested for years by Arséne Wenger – is back in fashion.
In this case the offside will only be such if there is a clear separation between the attacker and the defender: that segment between one player and the other creates the so-called light distance. It’s always a question of centimetres, of course, however you decide how to look at it.
The fact remains that even in the last meeting, the Ifab (the government that supervises the rules of football) discussed the topic of light. The experiments continue, in England in the minor leagues and also in the Italy U18 league.
A final decision regarding the ‘Wenger motion’ will probably be made at the meeting in February 2025. Until then the experiments continue, and the Rossoneri must accept the decisions made.
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