Question Number: 18143

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 12/16/2007

RE: Adult

Jed of Mid North Coast, New South Wales Australia asks...

I have an extremely trifling question that you will probably laugh at, regarding a player's position, but I'm asking just to be informed of the correct procedure.

Kick-off situation. 'All opponents must be in their own half' or similar is stated in Law 8. Is there a strict definition for 'own half'. Consider the following:

- Both feet partially on, partially behind the halfway line.
-Both feet partially on, partially in front of the halfway line.
- One foot on, one foot in front of the halfway line.
- Legs, torso, head but nor arms as in Law 11 denote the players position?

Also, would the same ideas of player position apply to the penalty area when deciding infringements of Law 14?

Of course a foot over the line at kick off wouldn't result in me giving a retake, but if the other team started whinging, the trifling idea would disappear and the offending player would be spoken to.

It also begs the question, when is a player in the opponent's half and therefore able to be in an offside position?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

We answer questions not laugh at them. So lets look at this one.

For the determination of offside we will expect to to establish offside position if any part of the player is nearer the opponent's goal line than the ball and the last but one opponent. Any part that may score a goal so hands and arms don't count here. With respect to being in your own half and complying with Law 8 all the parts count!

That said, we're not going to come all unpuckered if a little part is in the other half but we will try to prevent in future by talking to the player. This is the "what other Law do you want me to ignore" speech. Next time he is in the wrong half for a kick off mention ignoring bits of the Law again and ask him to return to his own half. This should take care of things. If necessary, retake the kick off but you can accept a small transgression here...

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Most of the time, such matters as a foot a tiny bit over the halfway line, penalty area line, or a tiny bit in offside position can hardly be seen in a game that is moving at normal playing speed. They could be considered as doubtful or even trifling. This does not mean the referee is (or should be ignoring) the transgression(s). If and/or when such a transgression in positioning does affect play negatively for the other team, the referee can/will/should address it. And the referee's decision will be final on that fact under the Laws of the Game, so players mustn't think they can go arguing with the referee about such facts.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

From a STATIC position if a playable body part is over the 5 inch midline that player is considered in the opposing half at that point of closest to the opposing goal line even if most of the rest of him is still inside his own half.

Whether such an incursion is worthy of legalize, I doubt anyone will be worried if the players are on the midline. The actual straddling is a bit blatant for me and I will be picky and request the players refrain from doing so at kick off.

On offside positional evaluations that is grounds to be considered as ineligible to participate if the circumstances so dictate. Most often though players moving in opposing directions at speed make a close call very difficult . In fact if we are uncertain it is a policy to award the decision to the attacker "When in doubt do not wave it about!" this applies to raising the flag on iffy offside calls.

However if we can CLEARLY discern that that toe of the foot or the lean of the head of the attacker is closer to the opposing goaline than that back heel of the second last defender when the attacking team mate last touches the ball it is an offside call that is 100% correct. Cheers