What are the changes for the new Premier League season? Offside line gets fatter, handball rules change

VAR was one of the most discussed topics in the Premier League last season. Mostly on a critical note, the management of the top English league decided to bring several changes to the new season.

A wider offside line

Plenty of goals were called off by the video referee last season due to millimetre offsides. Higher kick numbers or looser jerseys were to blame. After through negative feedback even from clubs on this style of decision making, a somewhat radical change has come.

The offside line leading away from the attacking player will be wider by a yet unknown distance. This decision should prevent millimetre offsides. In connection with this problem, another new feature has also been introduced.

Measurements outside the TV screens

Last season, the Premier League was the only league that allowed fans to observe the progress of offside measurements through TV screens. That changes from the new season and we won’t get to see the process of detecting offside on the screens.

Playing with your hands

Newer definitions await the on again, off again rule about hand play. And it is again a bit more vague and puts most of the responsibility on the on-field referees, who will often have to deal with subjective situations.

Simply put, there will be a lot of focus on whether a player’s unforced hand movement makes the body unnaturally large. In the case of an “attacking” hand, consideration should also be given to whether the hand was wanted or not.

If it was not and the situation did not lead directly to a goal being scored the player should not be penalised. However, if the hand directly contributes to the scoring of a goal or the creation of a scoring situation, the verdict will be the opposite.

Offside will be measured from the armpit this time

As of the new season, there is another change in the measurement of offside. If the last part of the player’s body is the arm, the offside line will be measured from the bottom of the player’s armpit. Last season the measuring point was the shoulder.

SkySports