Oxford United have asked for a referee to come to the Kassam Stadium and talk to the players about the new interpretation of the offside law, which is causing confusion throughout the game.

The problem is, even the officials seem unclear about it!

A directive from FIFA last September explained how a player should not be deemed offside if he doesn't touch the ball, and that player can then legally put the ball in the net in the 'second phase' of play, unless it comes back off the keeper or the woodwork from a shot from a player who is not offside.

It is, essentially, a clarification of the terms interfering and not interfering with play, and effectively says that a player cannot be deemed to be interfering if he doesn't touch the ball in that immediate phase of play.

But, according to United officials, it is only because the interpretation was highlighted on ITV's The Premiership last Saturday that the FA sent out a directive to clubs.

U's boss Ian Atkins said: "What it effectively means is that the higher up the pitch you squeeze, the more often you are likely to get caught by a player in what used to be an offside position.

"I've said to the players: don't rely on the linesman and give yourself the chance to get caught - that will sometimes mean dropping that 20 yards deeper."

He added: "We tried to get a ref in this week to explain the new directive. We rang Dermot Gallagher, but he was doing the Middlesbrough v Arsenal Carling Cup semi-final, and when I spoke to a local referee about explaining it, he said he wasn't totally clear himself!

"The directive's out, but no-one's really sure what it means. It just creates an uncertainty and puts more pressure on the linesmen.

"It seems to me this is a very hard thing to interpret and the beauty of football is that it's a simple game.

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