Canadian Premier League to trial FIFA ‘daylight offside’ interpretation from April 4

The Canadian Premier League (CPL) will trial a new ‘daylight offside’ interpretation in cooperation with FIFA when the league’s 2026 season starts on April 4, in the first professional pilot of a proposal championed by FIFA’s chief of global football development Arsène Wenger.The trial, led by FIFA and approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), aims to favour attacking play by tightening the threshold for when an attacker is penalised.Wenger said: “This is an important pilot. By testing this new interpretation in a professional competition, we can better understand its impact, including in terms of improving clarity and the flow of the game and promoting attacking play.”Under the interpretation, an attacker will be considered onside if at least one part of their body that can legally be used to score is in line with, or behind, the second-to-last defender.A player will only be ruled offside if there is a visible gap – “daylight” – between themselves and the second-to-last defender, meaning attackers must be fully beyond that defender to be penalised.FIFA said the intent is to “introduc[e] a clearer visual threshold” that restores a greater attacking advantage and boosts the flow of matches, an objective that also reflects long-running concerns among clubs, broadcasters and fans about stoppages linked to tight offside calls.The CPL said it will work with FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association on implementation, including education for clubs, players and match officials, and the compilation of data across the season to assess outcomes.The pilot is also expected to be supported by Football Video Support, a FIFA-backed system designed to help on-field officials review key incidents in competitions that do not operate full VAR infrastructure, as part of a wider push to test measures that improve match efficiency and reduce time-wasting.For FIFA and IFAB, the CPL trial provides a live environment to evaluate whether the approach increases attacking output and simplifies decision-making without creating unintended tactical distortions, before any consideration of broader adoption.