Question Number: 23912

Law 11 - Offside 9/12/2010

RE: Rec Adult

John Pollock of glasgow, Scotland asks...

This question is a follow up to question 123

can you be offside if there are no defenders in their own half but you are in the half.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Players inside their own half when the ball is touched or played by a teammate are never in an offside position.

To be in offside position, three elements are necessary: (1) player in Opponent's half; (2) closer to opponent's goal line than the ball; AND (3) closer to opponent's goal line than the second last defender.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
To be in an onside position the player in the attacking half must not be nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the
second-last opponent. So if there is only the goalkeeper in the half then the attacking player does not have a second last opponent between himself and the goal line in the attacking half so he is an offside position.
To deal with this situation the player should wait behind the half way line until the ball is played forward and then that is not offside as a player cannot be in an offside position in his own half.