Question Number: 23919

Law 11 - Offside 9/12/2010

RE: rec Adult

alex of richmond hill, ontario canada asks...

Player in an offside position started to chase the ball passed to him. AR raised the flag to indicate offside. Player saw the flag and stop running. CR then call out no offside, play continues. Hearing this the offside player resume running to the ball. What is the correct mechanics for the AR here? Lower the flag when CR call out no offside as it is obvious that the CR overrule the AR offside flag? Should the AR raise the flag again when the player resume running, or keep the flag down as per the call by the CR?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There are two ways the offside-positioned player (OPP) could be called for offside here:

-- if the player interferes with an opponent (e.g. getting so close that the opponent has to make a forced play)
-- playing the ball

IFAB has also said that if the OPP is the only attacker who has a chance to play the ball, the call may be made earlier, when it is clear that the OPP is not giving up on playing it. In that case, the CR would respect the AR's flag and call the offside. See Diagram 4 on page 103 of the I&G portion of the Laws, where the accompanying text says, "A player in an offside position (A) may be penalised before playing or touching the ball, if, in the opinion of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball."

If another attacker might have a chance at the ball, then the AR has put the flag up too early. She should lower the flag at the instruction of the referee, but still keep the OPP in mind. If he then resumes his run and eventually does touch the ball, offside would then be called, and she would raise the flag again.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Poor mechanics here by the referee crew. The AR should adopt a 'wait and see' approach and only flag when the player in an offside position interferes with play. If the player in the offside position was the only attacking player capable of playing the ball then the flag should have been respected.
In this case the AR should lower the flag on the referee's instruction and allow play to continue. However once the player in the offside position interferes with play then the flag should be raised. Offside for that player has not been reset and the CR believes that a player in an onside position may be able to play the ball. If that does not happen then it is still offside.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

During the pregame, the referee should discuss the signal for waving down a flag. Having done so in such a loud and obvious way, the referee has dug a hole. The assistant should lower the flag, and be prepared to discuss the event after the match. Assist, don't insist.

Far better for the referee to use the discussed hand signal and add a 'thumbs up' acknowledgment of the assistant referee's information.