Question Number: 23422

Law 11 - Offside 6/5/2010

Paul of smyrna, ga usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 23407

Regarding why players can not be called for offside infractions on goal kicks, throw-ins or corner kicks; although I've never read this anywhere I've always assumed the reasoning is (almost) obvious.
Offside is judged by the position of the players the last time the ball is touched by a team mate. If we forget about deflections, in each of the above situations the ball was last in play when it was touched by the opposition. The reason it is a goal kick coming out is that the attackers of that side last touched the ball before it went out of play. It is not in play again until AFTER it leaves the penalty area. The reason why one team is taking the throw-in is that the opposing team last touched the ball while it was in play. It is not in play again until AFTER the throw in is taken. And the reason why the attacking team is taking a corner is because the last time the ball was in play, it was being touched by the defense. It is not in play again until AFTER it is kicked and moved.
In each of these cases, (ignoring deflections) while the ball was last in play, no one on the team with the restart could have been ruled offside. So they can not be called offside until AFTER the ball is again put into play.
With kick-off it's obvious that all players should be on their own half anyway, so offside can not be called. But again (ignoring keeper deflections or own goals) in this case offside could not be called because the last time the ball was in play, the opposing team were the ones with possession and were busy kicking the ball out of play and into the net.
Simply put, since the team taking the restart in any of these off these 'ball off the field' restarts never has possession until AFTER it is in play, they can not be called for offside.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Paul
I came across this which suggests the historical reasoning
'' The roots of the offside law can be found in the various 'football' type games played in the English public schools in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (yes, I did mean '18th' century!). The Harrow rules were written in the early 19th century (1810-20) and included an offside rule, that basically stayed the same until the Football Association adopted another type of offside rule in 1866.

The Harrow offside rule went something like this:
To receive the ball from any forward pass was unlawful.
Sound familiar? Yes, it is essentially the same rule used in Rugby football, even to this day...
A Harrow player was offside simply by being 'nearer the line of the opponent's base (goal line) than the kicker'.
Thus, for many decades the only way to advance the ball up the pitch (in games using a ROUND ball) was to dribble. The natural tactic of the day was to form a line of players VERTICALLY or DIAGONALLY down the pitch and then the ball was passed BACKWARDS along the line from dribbler to dribbler (similar to today's Rugby pass).
The earliest break from this concept was made in the Cambridge University Rules of 1848 , the first rules to resemble modern football. The Cambridge rules permitted a player to receive a FORWARD pass if MORE THAN THREE opponents were between him and the goal line. Cambridge players were still reminded not to 'loiter between the ball and the adversaries' goal'.
However, this rule was not adopted in the Sheffield Rules of 1857, the second important set of modern football rules. Nor in The Football Association Laws of the Game in 1863, football's first official code. Accordingly, the 'dribbling (VERTICAL) game' continued until well into the 1860's. In 1866, The Football Association in London adopted the three-opponent rule: AT LEAST THREE opponents were required between a player and his opponent's goal line.
In 1873, the Laws first spelled out 'The offside rule applied only at 'the moment of kicking' (i.e. the moment the ball is played).
Goal kicks had been exempt from the rule from the beginning, but a clause added in 1880 specified 'last played by an opponent'. Corner kicks were exempted in 1881-82. .

Offside was limited to the opponent's half of the pitch in 1907, and throw-ins were exempted in June 1920 when an alteration in the off-side law that a player shall not be out of play when a throw-in is taken was made by the International Board.
The 'three-opponent' rule remained basically unchanged until 1925 when the International Football Association Board accepted a proposal by the Scottish Football Association that reduced the required number of opponents to two. The 1925 rule remained in force until after World Cup, Italy 1990, except that it was remodelled with the rest of the Laws in 1938. The change of one word, from 'three' to 'two' began a tactical revolution, starting with Arsenal's now-famous W-M system. All tactical innovations since 1925 have revolved around the two-opponent offside rule.
Author Garry Archer''

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Following your logic, there could never be offside on ANY restart as the opponents are ALWAYS the last to touch the ball. Then there could be no offside on any free kick which we all know is nonsense. Your scenario would only allow for offside during active play.

Update 6/12/10 Obviously, my comment is incorrect. I apologize. Sometime we editor types don't pay enough attention to what may have been written at 3 a.m. Still inexcusable as what I wrote simply is wrong.

What should have been said is that following this train of thought it would be possible to not have offside on ANY GIVEN free kick restart as it is ALWAYS POSSIBLE that an opponent was the last to play or touch the ball before a foul or misconduct occurred. Remember that a ball is "out of play" per Law 9:

The ball is out of play when:
? it has wholly crossed the goal line or touch line whether on the ground or
in the air
? play has been stopped by the referee


For example Red Player A is running with the ball near the touchline 15 yards into Blue's territory being chased by a Blue player. The Blue player is wiped out by Red Player B. Red player A is still in control of the ball and touching it when the referee stops play for the foul by Red Player B. Blue is awarded a DFK. Should there be no offside if a Blue player in offside position directly receives the ball from the kick simply because an opponent last played or touched the ball before the ball went out of play? I believe the answer to that is obvious.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 23442