Question Number: 35880

Law 11 - Offside 2/14/2025

RE: Adult

Ken Hughes of Liverpool, Merseyside United Kingdom asks...

Player 1 is standing in an offside position – but this is not an offence
Player 2 is onside heads the ball
Plater 1 comes to an onside position and head the ball to Player 3
Player 3 is onside and scores
Is any player deemed to be Offside?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ken
The answer hinges on the position of Player 1 at the moment of the touch by Player 2 not the original play to Player 2 . Unless Player 1 has got back to an onside position at the moment of the touch by Player 2 it will be called offside.

However if Player 1 has moved to an onside position for the play by Player 2 there is no offside offence. Any original position is mute based on subsequent plays and in this case the play / touch by Player 2.

Under the current Law 11 it is a tactic that is used a lot particularly at the higher levels.
Say at a free kick the attacking team position a player in a clear offside position. That prevents tight marking of that player and also marking goal side. The kick is played well away from that player in an offside position towards the direction of team mates that are onside and then those players just try to play the ball back across goal in the direction of the originally positioned PIOP who is now in an onside position for that next play.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Ken,
offside is a two part equation which is reset after each & ANY touch by the attacking team and disregarded if it was a save or deflection of the ball by the opposition.

In Player 1 you grasp that offside position in of itself is not a reason to stop play!

In Player 2 you have this ATTACKING player touch the ball which is the catalyst to see if there are PIOPs (players in offside positions) to consider.

We must now gauge if Player 1 was a PIOP when Player 2 headed the ball, this requires us to evaluate the WHEN & the WHERE was player 1 at the time player 2 contacts the ball? NOT when or where player 1 makes contact himself with the ball. If restricted, involvement is an INDFK.

Had player 1 readjusted his position in the FOP so he was ONSIDE at the time player 2 made the ball contact? If player one was already ONSIDE when Player 2 headed (physical contact) the ball then Player 3 also being onside there is no offside infringement!

Or had he only moved or into an (onside looking position) by the time he himself headed the ball? If Player one was offside positioned (closer to the opposing goal than the 2nd last opponent or the ball) when Player 2 headed the ball & only moved into what looks like an onside position after that touch, then when player one heads the ball, that is INVOLVEMENT thus an INDFK out! Player 3 actions mean nothing!

A PIOP can certainly move into an onside position, hoping to play the ball but once a player is RESTRICTED by the initial position which was established at ANY team mate touch of the ball, there is NOTHING that player can do to change it.. The ball moves, players move, which is why we FREEZE FRAME players' positions at each touch to identify who is restricted from actual involvement. It is why for example an INDFK for offside against, even in your own half is possible, because a restricted player moved back across the midline to play the ball thus be involved!

In essence the position criteria only determines if there is a restriction in place for THAT particular player, at that time UNTIL a NEW phase of play begins by
(1)a new team mate touch of the ball
(2)the opposition gain complete uncontested control or make an identifiable deliberate action to physically contact the ball
(3) the ball goes out of play

Cheers