Question Number: 23337

Law 11 - Offside 5/19/2010

RE: All Levels Under 14

Todd Wendorf of Marysville, PA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 23316

Interesting situation occurred during a U12 game. Attacker Player is in an offside position. His teammate attempts a pass to the offside player. An opponent stepped into the passing lane to intercept and attempts to clear the ball. Unfortunately the opponent nearly misses the ball and it only deflects off of his foot. The misplayed ball traveled to the corner where the aforementioned offside attacker gathered it and turned toward the goal.

Being that it was a deflection, not control by the defender, I whistled for offside.

My question --- could I have reset the offside condition based on the defender's intent to kick the ball away but not completing the action do to error? I know, I know...we cannot be mind readers and try to guess the intentions of the players. But, honestly, a defender winding up to put everything into a kick...fairly clear intent.

What if the defender, instead of deflecting, mis-kicked the ball and it still was collected by the offside attacker? Is a mis-kick to be defined as control?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the ball purely deflects off the player - no kicking motion or attempt to play the ball - it's an easy decision for offside.

If the defender clearly controls the ball and then kicks it toward the offside-positioned player, it's another easy decision - not offside because the control reset the play.

Your situation is in between, and calls for referee discretion. No, we can't determine what the player wanted to do with the ball, but his actions can give us a pretty good clue. He kicked at the ball and nearly missed - you can tell by those actions that he really didn't want that ball to continue through to the attacker. Also you said that he barely got a touch on the ball, instead of a good kick. Both of these actions lead me to believe that it was a deflection, not a controlled play. Call the offside.

While the Laws of the Game are not meant to compensate for the mistakes of players, there is a fine line of discernment of what is and is not a good play of the ball. If you expected that most players at that level would have played it the same way, it is a deflection rather than a ball mistakenly played to an opponent.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No. You made the correct call. Offside position is reset when the defender possesses and controls the ball, not from a deflection after an attempt to play the ball.

At the highest levels, a referee might be inclined to judge that the defender made a controlled play of the ball. But, the referee wouldn't base the decision on an 'intent to play the ball.' Moreover, once the defender has control of the ball, the referee will not compensate for the defender's mistake in passing the ball where an opponent could play it.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Wendorf
The key to the answer here is control. Control is the ability to manipulate the ball and prepare it for a following touch or to make the ball do what the player intended. So clearly the player did not control the ball and as such offside was not reset. Correct decision to award offside.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Ref Todd. Intent matters not in your scenario. The defenders intent is immaterial. The only thing you have to consider is, did the defender control the ball? You answered your own question in that you state the ball 'deflected off his foot.' This clearly is not control. Call the offside.

The answer to your question 'is a mis-kick to be defined as control'is no. A miskick MAY be controlled but not by definition. A defender may gather and control the ball and kick it directly to an attacker. This would be a mis-kick with control, no offside. Also, a defender could swing at the ball, make contact by clearly kicking it, but have the ball spin off with no control exhibited and inadvertantly land at the feet of an attacker. Ball was not controlled, give the offside.

Of course, this is in the opinion of the referee on the field that day.