Offside law change courtesy third tier Swedish side Torns IF, who used ‘gentle persistence’ to force officials to act.
Offside law changed after Swedish third-tier club’s pressure pays off.
A third-tier Swedish team’s “gentle persistence” in pursuing an offside loophole compelled officials to take action, changing the game’s rules.
The International Football Association Board (Ifab), which makes laws for football, changed the offside law’s wording to make it clearer when an offside determination should be made. Torns IF, a team from the small town of Stångby near Malmö, intervened to amend the rule after they questioned whether a player could avoid the offside rule by keeping the ball balanced in the crook of their foot.
In 2023, a video of Torn attempting to use their “scoop pass” method went viral, sparking a protracted exchange of emails between Torn and Ifab. Ifab initially tried to have the question dismissed, but Torns persisted, and the body agreed to evaluate the law’s wording after acknowledging that it was “amusing.”
David Elleray, the former Premier League referee who is technical director of Ifab, wrote to Torn and thanked the club “for your part in this clarification” and “for your gentle persistence in this matter”.
Torn’s Tim Nielsen, said it felt “absolutely fantastic to have contributed to the rules of the beautiful game”, adding: “Ifab required some convincing, but we got there in the end.”