AC Milan legend Van Basten calls for offside rule to be abolished

19 gen 2017

AC Milan and Ajax legend Marco Van Basten has released an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport to talk about the future rules of football. Van Basten is currently in charge of the technological innovation at FIFA and during the interview he has also shared his thoughts on the Video Assistant Referees which was used for the first time during the Club World Cup won by Real Madrid this past December.

Van Basten has also confirmed that he would abolish the offside rule, here’s what he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“We can’t transform a football pitch into a courthouse, players can’t complain each time the referee blows his whistle. The Video Assistant Referees can be very useful. All it takes to make it work is placing those referees who should retire due their age and put them in front of monitors.”

“I also have a very extreme idea: abolish the offside but it’s just my opinion and I don’t think anything will change. What’s for sure is that we don’t want to see referees gathered by footballers each time they take a decision. It provides a bad image of football, especially for young guys watching football games on TV.”