So, for the players themselves, how do they feel about the prospect of this new offside rule?
“They should probably change my clean-sheet bonus, if I’m being honest. So I’ll have to have a talk with the general manager about that,” joked left-back Kamdem.
“It’s definitely going to be a change. I’m a defender, so I prefer stricter rules on the offside.
“It could happen that it creates higher-scoring games, which I’m probably not the happiest about, but maybe for the fans it’s a little bit more entertaining.”
With the World Cup starting in June, the prospect of more Canadians paying attention to football and the CPL, the potential for high-scoring, more exciting games could attract them to the league past the showpiece tournament.
Smyrniotis said: “Whether it’s 7,000 fans at the Hamilton Stadium or it’s 90,000 at Wembley, everyone comes to see goals.
“The excitement that you get from the broadcast, from sitting live, all has to do with how that ball goes into the net. So if this is something that helps more goals, I think it’s good.”
Supra du Quebec head coach, Nicholas Razzaghi, added: “What I love about football is the emotions and sounds. I’m a coach, and they’re supposed to be tactics and it’s important.
“But at the same time, it’s the emotion that you feel from the fans watching. When there was Covid and there were no fans in the stadium, it was pretty boring. I still love the game. It’s not the same.
“My biggest hope is that the World Cup will propel more fan engagement, which has been growing. But I want to see the stadiums full.”
For the CPL, it hopes that it can be the 2026 World Cup’s legacy, with fans wanting to remain invested in the game, and the new offside rule might play a part in that.
