Question Number: 23544

Law 11 - Offside 6/23/2010

RE: rec Under 13

Ian Denning of Houston, Texas United States asks...

In the U.S.-Algeria World cup game Landon Donovan scored the winning goal off a rebound from the goalkeeper. I saw that Clint Dempsey was past everybody when Donovan shot the ball, having slid past the goalkeeper during the initial shot. Could Dempsey have been ruled offside and the goal disallowed?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

No offside. Dempsey was in an offside position - he had slid into the goal. However he was not involved in play when (or after) Donovan shot, so there was no offside offense.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ian
Clint Dempsey was not interfering with play even though he was in an offside position so the correct decision was made to award the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

If in the opinion of the referee Dempsey interfered with a defender by blocking his vision or body, then yes the goal would have been disallowed. I think I would have also had a heart attack after seeing another US goal taken away. That did not appear to be the case here as the keeper was ahead of Dempsey and the shot was to the far left of the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The only way Dempsey could interfere with play from inside the goal would be to yell or scream at the keeper and distract him. Since that did not happen, all we have is Dempsey in an offside position. Law 11 tells us it is not an offense to be in an offside position, unless and until the player somehow gets involved in play.

It was a heart stopping game for sure.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

No Ian. It is not an offense to be in offside POSITION. Dempsey would have had to do something to affect play in order for there to have been an offside call. I'm not sure exactly where he was. If he was in the goal he was off the field of play and would have had to distract the keeper for any call to have been made.