Question Number: 22820

Law 11 - Offside 2/13/2010

RE: Rec Under 13

Sean of Valencia, california US asks...

Offside question.
The law states:
A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball
touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee,
involved in active play by:
? interfering with play or
? interfering with an opponent or
? gaining an advantage by being in that position
If I read the above correctly, if a player in an offside position recieves the ball from someone other than his own team, there is no offence?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

It depends. If the ball he receives from an opponent was a deflection or misplay of a ball from the offside positioned player's teammate, then he will be called for offside.

If the ball he receives from an opponent is one that was last controlled and played by an opponent then the offside positioned player can legally play it.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Offside is judged at the moment the ball is touched or played by a teammate. However, if the ball deflects off an opponent, or an opponent plays the ball in such a manner so that he exhibits no control, offside has not been reset. If an opponent plays the ball with control, there can be no offside.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Sean
I would refer you to FIFA's Interactive Guide to Offside Law 11

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/lawsofthegame.html


Your question is best explained with an example.
Let's say a forward is inside the penalty area in an offside position and a defender who has the ball turns and kicks the ball to his goalkeeper not aware of the forward presence. The pass to the goalkeeper is intercepted by the opponent. Even though the forward is an offside position that cannot be offside.
Now say a team mate attempted to pass the ball to the same forward and the defender tried to stop the pass but it deflected off the defender's knee to the forward, in the offside position when the ball was kicked by his team mate, that would be offside.
The difference between the two is control of the ball.
I hope that helps

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Well that is not entirely true. Offside position is judged at the moment the ball last touched the teammate of the player in question. That is that if the ball merely deflects off an opponent such that the opponent gains no control of ball, then there could still be offside. Example would be.. If player A is in an offside position at the monent his teammate touches ball and ball deflects of an opponent (opponent gained no control), and then ball goes to player A, then player A is still offside. The key here is establishing control by the defending team. Once a defender establishes control of the ball, then offside position is reset. Hope that makes sense.