Question Number: 23442

6/9/2010

Paul of smyrna, ga USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 23422

With all due respect Ref Contarino, the topic discussed was regarding offside calls on restarts when the ball was previously off the FOP, goal kicks, throw ins, corner kicks and kick offs
Direct and indirect kicks, as well as drop balls were not part of the discussion until you brought it up by saying 'for ANY restart 'the opponents are ALWAYS the last to touch the ball'
I beg to differ. Regardless of which team has possession, I could easily be awarded a free kick because I was tripped, charged, struck, etc. In fact I would think that more often than not the team that is awarded the free kick would have been the one with possession before the whistle was blown.
I would think that the ball is usually in neither teams possession during most true handling calls. The same is true for most impeding situations.
Of course the ball MUST have been in the other teams possession for any offside call to be made or for any of the many keeper handling offenses.
In these situations, which were not part of the conversation, the team is awarded the free kick solely because they were the ones that were the victims of some sort of foul or misconduct. Possession of the ball at the time of the incident could easily have been had by either team, but is not relevant to the restart, also not relevant to the conversation.
My point was simply that since my team can only be called for an offside infraction when my team was the last to play the ball, my team can not be ruled offside directly on any 'ball off the FOP restart.....The last team to have the ball while it was in play was the opposing team.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Paul
For the new referee this is a good way to rememember that a player cannot be offside from any restart where the ball has left the field of play. Remember that at one time it was possible to be offside from a throw in before it was exempted. On a corner kick it is difficult to be in front of the ball and it is rarely a consideration even if offside did prevail.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Sorry, while your 'last in possession' construct holds up for some situations, it does not hold for all.

Consider off-the-ball fouls:
1. Red has possession and a blue defender away from the ball kicks a red attacker. That's a free kick to red, and offside applies.
2. Red has possession, and another red player fouls a blue player away from the ball. That's a free kick to blue, and offside applies even though red had possession before the foul.

Consider offside: Red is in possession and kicks the ball to another red player in an offside position. The free kick is to blue, and offside applies, even though blue did not have possession prior.

No, the opponents aren't always the last to touch the ball prior to an infraction, but it happens often enough. 'Last in possession' doesn't apply at these restarts. There is no reason to assume it was the basis for offside exemptions for throw-ins, goal kicks and corner kicks. Unless FIFA has some archives of the old discussions that took place decades ago regarding offside, no one will know the real reason. We presented our speculations for the reasoning.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I'll grant you that my statement was incorrect. In fact if you go to the question you'll see I added this:

"Update 6/12/10 Obviously, my comment is incorrect. I apologize. Sometimes 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."

I interjected this because yes, you were speaking of times when the ball went off the FOP, but there's nothing magical about the ball going out of play because the ball crosses over a touch or goal line and that your logic should also be applied to ANYTIME the ball goes out of play. In question 23422, you stated numerous times that the opponents were the last to touch the ball before it went "out of play". Since this was your terminology, ALL restarts became germane to the conversation. I also object to your concluding sentence, " 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". On ANY restart there is no "possession" until after the ball is in play. You are correct that at a goal kick the ball is not in play until it leaves the penalty area but that's true for ANY free kick coming out of the penalty area.

In any "ball off the field" restarts it's unequivocally true the team taking the restart did not have possession when the ball went out of play,but I do not believe that is why there can be no offside on these restarts as we've seen examples of other restarts where the team taking the restart did not last have possession of the ball yet offside still is in effect.