Question Number: 24203

Law 11 - Offside 10/19/2010

RE: High School Adult

Bob Foster of Bend, or usa asks...

The goalkeeper collects the ball and punts it out toward the half way line. It bounces and then is mishandled by an opponent on the goalkeeper's side of the half way line. An attacker, teammate of the goalkeeper, was in an offside position when the ball was punted and has come back across the half way line to challenge for the ball.

1. If the attacker touches the ball should offside be called?

2. If the attacker is just in the group of players challenging for the ball and might have touched it or might not have, should offside be called? (I was the referee in a dual system and was about 30 yards or so away so I'm not really certain whether the attacker touched the ball or not. I know the dual system is a poor system but it's all that the schools are willing to pay for on Junior Varsity high school matches.)

Thanks!

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

By 'mishandled' do you mean with the hand? If so, call the handling foul.

But if you mean the ball was just deflected off the defender, then offside considerations have not been changed. If the player comes from an offside position to play the ball, you call the offside. The restart is in the place where the player was in an offside position - back on the other side of the half line.

If you don't know who touched the ball, then you can't call offside for interfering in play. It might be interfering with an opponent - although in a crowd that would probably be hard to discern as well.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Bob
If a player deliberately handled the ball then that is the first offence and it must be called with a direct free kick restart.
Offside is only called when the player in an offside position interferes with play or an opponent.
If it happened in a close group of players then the referee has to judge whether the actions of the player in an offside position interfered with an opponent. If that was the case then offside should be called.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Unless the defender actually used his hands on the ball, we assume you meant the defender never actually controlled the ball, that instead it either bounced or deflected off of him, or he tried to kick it and muffed it. If he handled it, DFK for the other team.

If any of the other choices, offside in 1. As for deciding about players in a crowd - if you didn't see it and can't decide from other clues whether the player in the OSP is the one who touched the ball, keep the flag down and/or don't blow the whistle. Educated guesses based on evidence are okay occasionally, but if we really can't see or can't tell, guessing is a bad choice.