Question Number: 19897

Law 11 - Offside 9/7/2008

Sean of Columbus, IN USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 19881

Shouldn't the offside be called since the player in the offside position did interfere with play [19881]. Otherwise the keeper would have never made that move.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It could be seen that way as well. I assumed the offside would not be called because the keeper's handling interrupted the offense. But I can see your point. It all comes down to what the referee on the field thought.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Sean,
I missed answering this 19881 earlier.
Creative refereeing is not making things up as some referees are prone to do but getting the call right when many things are in the mix. The GAME of soccer has flexible laws and the ARs and referees who apply them work through the same levels of needed concentration and effort to make a game a game not an analytical droneful exercise.
Whenever a situation is this messy as AR we need to talk to the referee for clarity remembering we are not in radio communication and buzzered up as they are professionally, we do the SAME job with less gadgetry!
The restart is what the referee decides!
The assistant referee must raise his flag when a foul or misconduct is committed in his immediate vicinity or out of the referee's vision. In **ALL**other situations, he must wait and offer his opinion if it is required.
When a foul or misconduct is committed, the assistant referee must raise his flag with the same hand that will also be used for the remainder of the signal, this gives the referee a clear indication as
to who was fouled. EYE contact and indicate we need to talk if the signals are confused.
Offside position is not an infringement until involvement is a certainty. To decide the deliberate handling is the foul of choice you must engage the idea why did the keeper react? Was it to a pass to the offside player or a shot on goal? Deflections of the ball by any opposing player do not affect the status of a player in an offside position. I tend to think the flag raised could be more for offside on a pass and a DFK for a shot. As in most things need to see it to be sure! Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I think you have a valid point. If the handling by the keeper is, in the opinion of the referee, a deflection and no control exists, then the attacker is guilty of offside. Why? Because offside is judged when the ball is played by a teammate which occurred before the handling. That said, this will be a VERY hard call to sell as then you cannot punish the keeper as play has stopped with the play of the ball and the offside call. When we view 'control' as referees we often view any deliberate (or at least most of the time) handling as exhibiting some control.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

I agree with you here. This is the referees and assistant referees judgement. There are 2 parts to being punished for offside. The offside position and involvement in play. The offside position is a simple yes or no question. The involvement is the judgement of the referee.