Offside law changed after Swedish third-tier club’s pressure pays off

A Swedish third-tier side have changed the laws of football after their “gentle persistence” in exploring an offside loophole forced officials to act.

Football’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board. (Ifab), has amended the text of the offside law to clarify at which point an offside assessment should be made. The change comes after interventions from Torns IF, a club from the small town of Stångby near Malmö, who wondered whether a player could get around the offside law by keeping the ball balanced in the crook of their foot.

A video showing Torns trying to put their “scoop pass” trick into practice went viral in 2023 and provoked lengthy correspondence between Torns and Ifab. At first Ifab sought to dismiss the query but Torns’ persistence led the body to acknowledge that it was “amusing” and consent to reviewing the wording of the law.

David Elleray, the former Premier League referee who is technical director of Ifab, wrote to Torns and thanked the club “for your part in this clarification” and “for your gentle persistence in this matter”.

Torns’ Tim Neilsen, 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.”

The scoop pass has not been outlawed but a clarification has been made to a footnote of the offside law for 2025-26 and relates to one example of a “delayed” pass: when a goalkeeper throws the ball upfield with a view to releasing a forward behind the opponents’ defence. An offside assessment will be made at the “last point of contact” before the keeper releases the ball. In all other passing instances, a judgment is made related to “the first point of contact”.

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Ifab argued that a scoop pass was against the spirit of the laws. “I’m very curious why they have only changed the rule for throws by the keeper, and not for other types of passes, such as scoop and swivel passes,” Neilsen told the Guardian. He believes the lack of clarity would not exist were it not for video assistant referees and the need to establish a precise moment at which to adjudge offside. Perhaps further correspondence will follow yet.

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