Question Number: 23086

Law 11 - Offside 4/10/2010

RE: Adult

rosemary hadaway of stanwick, northants uk asks...

Amateur Saturday men's' football. Player runs forward and is in line with opposition. Brings down ball and shoots from outside 18 yard box. Goal is scored. Linesman puts flag up. Referee points to centre circle. Linesman puts flag down. Referee notes goal in book. Linesman puts flag up again. Players waiting to restart game. Referee goes to talks to linesman. Goal is disallowed for off side even though referee had pointed and logged goal in his book and linesman had not kept flag up. Linesman was not up with player. Should the goal stand?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rosemary
No, the goal should not stand. As play has not restarted the referee is entitled to change his mind on any decision if he receives information from an assistant referee such as offside, unseen foul etc.
All that happened here is poor communication and mechanics between the two officials. If the referee had noticed the flag straight away he would have consulted immediately with the AR or seen it as an offside flag and then disallowed the goal.
Also an AR being out of position is not unusual and it does happen in quick break situations, sudden change of play etc. While it is certainly more practicable that offside calls should be made from a level position many offside calls can and are made while not in line. It is only on the very tight calls that a level position is best.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The referee has until the next restart to change his mind on any call, having been informed by an AR or 4th official that something else had happened.

The mechanics shown here weren't that good - the ref should have been looking at the AR, and the AR should have kept the flag up - but at least they eventually got the correct result.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The referee is the final arbiter of what is fact on the field. She can change her mind up until the point when the ball is next put into play (and even beyond that in an exception). If the referee receives information which she accepts from the AR, then she might change the decision, which it apparently did happen in your game.

Whether it has been noted or not, teams are ready to start again or not are irrelevant. What is relevant is the decision the referee makes with whatever information received from ARs. The referee can decide the information is not credible and move forward with the goal, or decide it is credible and restart with the IDFK for offside.

The AR needs to learn to hold the flag in such instances until 1) the referee sees the flag and stops play; 2) the referee sees the flag and waves it down; or 3) the referee belatedly sees the flag and must decide based on the AR's information.