Van Basten's offside rule scrapping a hit

A suggestion by Dutch soccer great Marco van Basten to abolish the offside rule has been backed by Germany national team manager Oliver Bierhoff.

Germany national team manager Oliver Bierhoff says football would be more attractive without the offside rule.

The former international striker told Germany's Sport Bild that changes to the backpass rule had been positive after initial scepticism.

"Why then shouldn't the absence of the offside rule make the game more attractive?" he said.

"Maybe we should agree to a test phase."

His comments follow a meeting with former Dutch striker Marco van Basten, who is now technical director at football governing body FIFA and has suggested a number of reforms including scrapping offside.

Bierhoff said he also supported the idea of a time-out, another of Van Basten's proposals.

"Time-outs, which should not last too long, would be a good opportunity for coaches," he said.