Question Number: 23174

Law 11 - Offside 4/24/2010

RE: Club Under 12

william pittman of irvine, ca usa asks...

Direct kick from just outside the 18. Ball is kicked and hits post and not any one or anything before it hits the post. A second attacker rushes and kicks the ball into the goal. The second attacker was not in an offside position at the time of the kick but was in an offside position after the kick hit the cross bar. Referee allowed the goal.

Shouldn't the second attacker be called for offside?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi William
The referee made the correct decision here. Offside positions are determined at each touch of the ball by the team in possession/ control of the ball. In this case the offside positions were determined when the ball was kicked at the taking of the free kick. As you say no subsequent touch changed that determination of positions after the kick was taken and the ball hit the frame of the goal came out to a player who was originally in an onside position and he scored. Always remember it is not the position that the player touches the ball in but the position he was in when the ball was played/touched by a team mate that determines offside. A player can be in an onside position when the ball is played forward and he can then run and touch the ball in an offside position without being called offside.
It could only be offside if the player that scored was standing in an offside position when the free kick was taken. He then gained an advantage by being in an offside position
' "gaining an advantage by being in that position" means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a goalpost or the crossbar having been in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position'

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Offside position is determined when a teammate touches/plays the ball - each and every touch. Whatever happens after that touch is immaterial in determining offside position. Since the last touch was the free kick and the the player was onside at that instant, the player was not offside and the goal should stand.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Good goal! Offside is determined at the time the ball is last touched or played by a teammate, and in this case that time was when the DFK was taken. The player who put it in the goal was onside when he kicked the ball.