Question Number: 24026

Law 11 - Offside 9/26/2010

RE: Rec Adult

Kenneth Paul of Wayland, MA USA asks...

I've read, re-read, and read again the official FIFA law on offside, but I've never seen anything from FIFA stating when a player stops being offside.

Clearly if a teammate touches the ball and you've returned to an onside position, you could no longer be considered offside. I've read reasonable, commonsense postings such as when the ball goes out of play, and the defensive team establishes 'control' (although that seems worthy of a major definition.) But nothing is mentioned in FIFA's Laws of the Game.

In the absence of such a statement, the mind reels with possibilities. But alas, I know this isn't the case. Can someone point me to the right place on FIFA's website?

Last, what prompted this was the following play in a recent MLS game. Two offensive players were in an offside position when the ball was cleared high and deep into the defense's goal area by a teammate. The player closest to the ball stopped, and walked slowly back to midfield to indicate he was not an active player. The second player, however, was further away (approximately 20 yards), and started advancing to a defender who went to collect the ball. The ball bounced, untouched by the defender, and the second attacker started sprinting. This forced the defender to hurriedly head the ball back to a teammate who had moved to a supporting position. No offside was called.

I suspect the call was missed...

Thanks for your comments...

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Kenneth
I would refer you to FIFA's website which has an interactive guide to Law 11
http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/lawsofthegame.html

This is also a helpful document for US referees
http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Referee-Programs/2010/07/2010-Referee-Week-In-Review-17.aspx

First off it is not an offence to be in an offside position. So to be called offside the player also has to meet one of the three conditions set out in Law 11, the most common one is interfering with play ie touching the ball. Now once in an offside position the player may not play the ball again until he has moved or been placed by the movement of opponents or the ball in an onside position by subsequent play of his onside team mates, the ball goes out of play or the opponents have gained control of the ball. Also a player may not return from an offside position to an onside position to play the ball last played by a teammate.
In the MLS game you refer to the AR was off the opinion that the attacker did not 'interfere with an opponent' which is one of the conditions for offside and therfore was not called offside. Had the offside positioned player made contact with the defender or prevented him from playing the ball then it would have been called.
USSF has a stricter interpretation of the need to play the ball to be called offside than the rest of the football world. IFAB has stated ?A player in an offside position 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 an opponent becomes involved in the play and if, in the opinion of the referee, there is potential for physical contact, the player in the offside position shall be penalised for interfering with an opponent.?
In the US that determination is made by that in the absence of touching the ball, one cannot make any inference that the PIOP could or might interfere with play because he or she could, right on up to the last moment, not touch the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

USSF's publication Advice to Referees also covers this:

11.14 BECOMING 'ONSIDE'
The possibility of penalizing a player for being in an offside position must be reevaluated whenever:
1. The ball is again touched or played by a teammate,
2. The ball is played (possessed and controlled, not simply deflected) by an opponent, including the opposing goalkeeper, or
3. The ball goes out of play.

The result of such a reevaluation, of course, may be that the player remains in an offside position based on still being beyond the second-to-last defender, the ball, and the midfield line. Referees must remember that a player cannot simply run to an onside position and become involved in play. The player's position with relation to the ball and the opponents must change in accordance with the Law.