Question Number: 22420

Law 11 - Offside 11/1/2009

RE: Premier Level 1 Under 18

Kent Baril of Sammamish, WA USA asks...

As an AR in a U-17 premier game today, I had an offside situation for which I would appreciate your guidance. Attacker 1 is in an offside position approx 30 yards from goal, 5-8 yards from the touch line and approx 10-15 yrds closer to the goal than the second to last defender when the ball is played to him by a teammate at the midfield line. Defender is running toward Attacker 1, when the ball deflects off his back and goes over the touch line. Attacker 1 sprints over to the touchline. The ball is no longer in the field of play. I did not raise my flag because 1. Attacker 1 did not gain an advantage by playing the ball in the field of play, nor 2. Interfere with and opponent. Based on the deflection, Attacker 1 could not have played the ball in the field of play. Attacker 1 hustled over, stepped into touch picked up the ball and immediately threw it forward to a sprinting attacker 2 who although in an offside position(ahead of the ball and closer to the goal the 2nd to last defender), could not commit on offside infraction playing the ball directly from a Throw in. My question is, if by being in an offside position which allows an Attacker to have an advantage getting to a ball that is over the touch line, for a quick throw-in, is that considered ' gaining an advantage'. In this situation, the the Attacker 2, took a shot which was caught by the keeper after receiving the throw-in from Attacker 1.
Thanks in advance for your perspective.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Kent,

Your initial response to the situation - that is, not raising your flag - was spot on and your reasoning was flawless.

Once the ball is out of play, then all offside considerations are over. You cannot infringe Law 11 when the ball is out of play.

Since this Law was tightened up and an obligation placed of referees to allow play to continue unless specific violations have occurred (as opposed to a few years ago when merely moving for the ball would often be enough to see a flag go up), there have also been a few ways in which the laws can be exploited. Your scenario seems to be one, but certainly no offence has occurred.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Once the ball leaves the field of play, attacker 1 is again eligible to participate in play. You correctly analyzed the situation.

Gaining an advantage has a very specific definition: touching the ball after it rebounds off the goal or deflects off an opponent. Being able to take a throw in quickly is not.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It sounds like your reasoning was correct. USSF Advice to Referees says (note the last point):

11.14 BECOMING 'ONSIDE'
The possibility of penalizing a player for being in an offside position must be reevaluated whenever:
1. The ball is again touched or played by a teammate,
2. The ball is played (possessed and controlled, not simply deflected) by an opponent, including the opposing goalkeeper, or
3. The ball goes out of play.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Baril
Like my colleague this IMO is not offside and the subsequent throw in by the attacker is just part of subsequent play and the offside consideration has passed.
In recent times in Europe I have seen ARs avail of an IFAB directive which allows the offside to be flagged before interfering with play when no other attacker in an onside position can play the ball. I believe that many officials are now using that in a way that was not intended by the law makers and there has been a tendancy to creep back into the 'old' offside law on situations like this. Some feel that the defender was forced to 'play' the ball in a situation where had he not done so the attacking player would probably have met the offside criteria. It also responds to a lack of understanding among teams of the current offside law where say in this situation there would have been a call for offside plus unhappiness that the attack was then able to avail of an attacking throw in, all brought about in their view by a player in an offside position. That's not what the current offside law is about.

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