Question Number: 22756

Law 11 - Offside 1/25/2010

RE: rec/select Under 13

paul morrill of ludington, mi usa asks...

Here is a scernio possibly involving an offsides after the initial penalty kick.
1. The kicker takes the kick and the ball bounces off the goal post straight back to him as he is charging in ahead of everyone else. Now I do know the ball is live and its a free-for-all for anyone to get the ball. There at this time no offsides.
2. The attacker kicks the ball which bounces off the keepers knee and goes to the right to another attacker.
3. Now here is the question: Both the orignal kicker and the new attacker somehow was fast enough to beat everyone else. So you have two attackers and the keeper. The second attacker during the second rebound kicks the ball at the keeper. Now I would rule him offsides because:
1. offsides was reset after the second deflection/rebound
2. The second attacker had no defenders in front of him, just the keeper thus he was 'now' in an offsides position and gained advantage on the ball by being in the posiition.
I beleive I would have called this correctly.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No one is in an offside position when the penalty kick is taken because law 14 requires every attacker but the kicker to be even with or behind the ball.

Offside position is judged each time the ball touches or is played by a teammate! Until the ball again touches a member of the attacking team, no one is in offside position regardless of their subsequent positioning relative to the ball or to the second last opponent after the kick.

1. Offside position is not reset after the ball rebounds off the goalpost or the opposing keeper.

2. The second attacker who was onside when the ball is kicked may play the ball regardless of the current location of the opposing defenders. Moreover, in all but the rarest of occasions, the second attacker will also be behind the ball after the intial kick (and not in an offside position for that reason as well).

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Morrill
Your scenario fails on point 2 as the penalty taker cannot kick the ball again until it is touched by another player, having come off the post.
However if we make the assumption that the penalty kick was saved by the goalkeeper and the 2nd kick was again saved by the goalkeeper which then rebounds to the 2nd attacker who is nearer to the goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent having passed out the ball and the kicker before the 2nd shot was taken then he is offside when he touches the ball.
If the 2nd attacker is behind the ball when the 2nd kick is made then he cannot be offside off the rebound or in any circumstance including a pass.
As Referee Wickham states the rebound does not reset any offside so that is not a consideration.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Paul, there can be no offside on a penalty kick, first of all, if the referee follows the appropriate procedure and has everyone but the identified kicker and the goalkeeper behind a line parallel to the goal line running through the penalty mark. The ball on the penalty mark sets the offside line in this instance. Remember? Closer to the goal line than the ball and the second to last defender is the measure of whether or not a player is in the offside position. In a penalty kick, the kicker and his teammates are not closer to the goal line than the ball, and thus are NOT in an offside position.

If they are not offside when the kick is taken, they cannot be in an offside position until the ball is next touched by a TEAMMATE - which is when offside position is next judged. A touch/control/play by the goalkeeper is not a resetting of offside position, especially when there is no offside position yet to reset. And of course a rebound off the goal itself changes nothing. Do remember the kicker cannot touch the ball again after it is kicked until it has touched another player - either team.

If you had been discussing a direct free kick near the penalty area, it is possible there could have been teammates of the kicker in an offside position, and we would have to then judge if they became involved in play according to the dictates of Law 11. But - not off of a penalty kick - no way, no how.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Ref Morrill, you seem to have some serious flaws in your argument.

First, as noted, if the ball bounces off the goal and back to the PK taker, he cannot play it. The ball must touch another player before he can touch it again. If he does touch it, the opponents are given an indirect free kick for the second-touch.

But for sake of discussing offside, let's assume everything in your scenario except that the PK rebounded off the goalkeeper. Let's call the PK taker A1 and his teammate A2.

1. At the time of the PK, no one is allowed to be in an offside position - all players (except kicker and keeper) must be outside the penalty area and behind the ball.

2. When the ball rebounds from the keeper to A1, A1 is not considered for offside, because he was the last attacker to play the ball. Offside is considered only when the ball last touches a teammate, not self.

3. THIS PART IS IMPORTANT - Where is A2 when A1 takes the followup shot? He is ahead of all the defenders except the keeper, but what about the ball? Only if he is past both the second to last defender AND THE BALL when A1 takes the second shot is he in an offside position.

4. Now the ball rebonds off the keeper to A2. If A2 was in an offside position when A1 last played the ball, and A2 then plays it, he would be called offside for gaining an advantage by being in that position. But that would only be true if he was in an offside position as discussed in point 3. Did you remember to take a mental snapshot of that position?

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See Question: 22761