Cox: Mbappe goal just doesn't feel right - the offside law needs changing - The Athletic
Sunday night’s Nations League final was an entertaining affair. It was a contrast between Spain’s cohesion and France’s disjointedness, and between Spain’s wastefulness in the final third and France’s clinical finishing. With ten minutes remaining it was 1-1, with extra time looming.
And then, the game was decided by a controversial refereeing decision.
Controversial refereeing decisions are usually about the officials getting something wrong, or at least arguably wrong. On this occasion, according to the Laws of the Game, Anthony Taylor and the all-English officiating team probably got things right. Kylian Mbappe was deemed onside for his winning goal according to the letter of the law. In terms of the spirit of the law, though, it’s a difficult decision to accept.
First things first — was Mbappe definitely in an offside position? Because of the way the situation unfolded, VAR didn’t even need to bother checking this detail. In the age of “thicker lines”, giving some benefit of the doubt to the attacker this season, it’s difficult to be sure. Most people would be confident Mbappe is offside in this situation.
But in a way, that’s not important here. This is about the principle of situations like this, rather than this specific situation.
The issue, though, is that while Mbappe is in an offside position, he’s not actually offside at this point. He hasn’t touched the ball, or attempted to touch the ball, or challenged an opponent or blocked an opponent’s line of vision. So offside cannot be given at this stage.
Mbappe does end up touching the ball — but only after Eric Garcia, Spain’s right-sided centre-back, gets a small touch to the ball in attempting to intercept it. This effectively resets the play, it becomes a second phase of play, and Mbappe is entitled to collect the ball and score.
source: https://theathletic.com/2880691/2021/10/11/cox-mbappe-goal-just-doesnt-feel-right-the-offside-law-needs-changing/
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