"Image source, Getty Images After asking players, pundits and referees what changes they would make to reinvent football, we opened the debate up to you. We opened the floor for fans to imagine a world in which they could rip up the rulebook and start again. The topic stirred up plenty of debate across our live page and social media and we received thousands of messages from our audience, suggesting the one thing they would change. Here are the top five talking points, followed by the assessment of former Premier League referee Chris Foy and BBC Sport's football issues correspondent Dale Johnson."
"The offside rule was a widely-debated topic, with fans wanting to either tweak the law, or get rid of it completely. Former Premier League referee Anthony Taylor said "scrapping offside might be the answer" and added: "One of the best tournaments I refereed in was a prison officer tournament and we had no offside... and we had so many goals it was unbelievable." Another frustration for supporters is around 'delaying the flag' - where officials are told to keep their flag down if they felt there was an immediate goalscoring opportunity."
Thousands of fans suggested radical rule changes when invited to reimagine football. Offside emerged as the most-contested law, with proposals ranging from complete removal to requiring visible "daylight" between attacker and defender. Some supporters recommended restricting offside to beyond the 18-yard box to spread play and encourage scoring. Frustration centred on "delaying the flag," where assistants hold flags down for immediate goalscoring chances, and on perceived inconsistency in offside enforcement. Former referees noted that assistant refereeing is an art and that keeping the flag down is often encouraged in clear attacking situations.
Read at www.bbc.com
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