Question Number: 23397

Law 11 - Offside 5/30/2010

RE: Select Under 18

M.P. of , USA asks...

A question from my assessment game-- U17 Girls Select. White defender in her defensive half attempts a clearance which deflects from the knee of a nearby red midfielder to a red forward standing in offside position when ball rebounds from her teammate toward her. I look to my AR; he gives the offside flag; I blow the whistle and signal for offside.

My assessor said that since the ball merely deflected from the offensive player to her teammate in offside position that we should not have made an offside call. In his view the ball had to be played to the offside forward and 'played' requires a controlled touch. Another referee I consulted confirmed this interpretation, saying he had learned it in a referee academy taught by a USSF Grade Five Referee.

Is this interpretation correct in USSF competition?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Pearson
This is most definitely offside and the assessor is totally incorrect. It does not make any difference if the touch is deliberate or not from the red player to the red team mate in an offside position. Once the ball is touched and played even inadvertently by a player to a team mate in an offside position that will be called offside when the player in an offside position inteferes with play.
What does Law 11 say ? ''A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team,'. It is black and white that any sort of a touch by the player 'passing' the ball by one of his team is a key part of the offside criteria and nowhere is there a mention that it must be deliberate.
The assessor and referee must be confusing this with control which applies only to reseting the offside when the defending team gains control/possession of the ball.
This is a fundamental error in advising on Law 11 and it needs to be corrected immediately. Please go back to both and inform them of the correct answer.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

It concerns me that this person of authority is teaching referees something which is blatantly incorrect.

There is no intent required for an offside infringement; it either does or doesn't happen.

The red midfielder (or red forward) could've been lying down injured and had this happen, offside would still be the correct decision.

I strongly urge you to contact whoever is the authority in your local areas so these people can have their errors rectified.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The 'touches' part of Law 11 has been in the Laws for a very long time. Your assessor and the other referee are flat wrong. A deflection off a teammate has the same effect as a deflection off a defender - in neither case is the player in an offside position allowed to become actively involved in play.

Law 11 says 'A player in an offside position is only penalized if, at the moment the ball TOUCHES (emphasis added) or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:...'

I could see asking if the flag was put up early, because there is always a chance the player in an offside position would not play the ball or get involved, or an onside player might blast through, but that wasn't the criticism here, apparently. Please clarify with your assessor that what you wrote above is what he or she meant, and if it is, you might hazard a call to your State Director of Assessment or Instruction with this question - no email, call - because this kind of wrong information hurts the referee program if it goes unchallenged.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

I suspect that what you heard is not what the assessor meant.

The USSF has emphasized recently that the flag should not go up because the ball is moving toward a player in offside position (or the PIOP is moving toward the ball). The assistant and referee generally should wait for the player in offside position to touch the ball before calling the offside infringement.

But, to be in offside position, the ball only has to touch a teammate. There is no requirement that the teammate control the ball. It could deflect off her back with her unaware of the contact. This has not changed.