Blackburn vs. Liverpool

The main talking point from this match at the weekend was the only goal of the game, scored for Liverpool by Robbie Fowler. In the build-up to the goal, the ball was played forward towards Djibril Cissé, who was several yards off-side. Cissé stuck out a leg in an attempt to control the ball but, quickly realising that he was off-side, let the ball run to Fernando Morientes. The Blackburn defence froze as Morientes coolly passed for Fowler to side-foot the ball into an open goal.

Most commentators and pundits agreed that off-side should have been given against Cissé because he was very near the ball and made an attempt to play it. They generally blamed either the assistant referee or the current interpretation of the off-side law. As usual, none of them worked out the real reason why off-side was not given.

According to FIFA's current edict on how to interpret the off-side law, Cissé was definitely not off-side. To be "active" (according to FIFA) a player must either touch the ball or challenge/obstruct/unsight a player from the other team. Cissé did none of these things. The fact that FIFA's interpretation is completely unworkable quickly led to referees adopting a slightly broader interpretation of what being "active" means. English officials generally flag for off-side as soon as a player in an off-side position makes any attempt to go for the ball.

However, the real reason why off-side was not given in this case was because it is the assistant referee who must decide if a player is both in an off-side position and active. The first part is usually easy, but deciding if a player is active from the far touch-line is often much more difficult. From where he was, the assistant referee couldn't see how close the ball was to Cissé and probably didn't even see his leg movement. All he saw was Cissé standing still and raising his arms to indicate that he wasn't doing anything.

The referee had a better view, but he couldn't be sure whether the player was actually off-side. Of course, multiple camera angles and endless slow-motion replays give commentators and pundits a much better view than any official on the field. I laugh when they say, "From this camera angle, it's obvious that the referee got it wrong." It can't be obvious when you need all that technology to prove a point!

What the game needs is an interpretation of the off-side law that is both clear and workable. FIFA's attempts at fiddling with the rules have often had unintended consequences. I foresee further off-side controversy in the World Cup.