Question Number: 24312

Law 11 - Offside 11/13/2010

RE: LIJSL Travel U-12 Under 13

eric of huntington, ny usa asks...

Offside question;
Red Team Player B in in an offside position, several yards behind the last defender.
Red team player A receives pass- onside and even with the last defender at the same time.
Player A beats defender and proceeds to have a breakaway on net with player B.
Player A gets to 18 yard line or so and takes weak shot, missing the goalie, but not strong enough to go out of bounds.
Player B continues in on the play and kicks the ball in the open net.
Note-no player other than player A had touched the ball since the breakaway,
Shouldn't Offside have been called!!
The referee called it a goal and we lost a heart breaker. The referee explained to me that because it was a shot, offside was not an issue. Regardless of that, the offside player can not take part in the play until it is touched by an opponent.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Eric
The key here is phases of play. Red Team Player A through his play has reset the original offside position of his team mate Player B. So unless Player B was in an offside position and interfered with play by touching the ball then there is no offence. I assume from the question that when Red B touched the ball to score he was in fact behind the ball and Red A which is not in an offside position.
Here is an example taken from La Liga where Ronaldo is clearly in an offside position when the ball is played through. When the ball is played to him by his team mate he is no longer in an offside position and the goal was correctly allowed. Being in an offside position is not an offence and your understanding of the requirement of the involvement of an opponent in play is incorrect as contact of the ball by an opponent is not necessary to reset offside..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTzIg217Su4

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Coach, you haven't given us enough information to decide whether or not B was offside.

You state he was originally in an offside position, but then A touched the ball several times. Each time A touches the ball, B's position has to be re-evaluated. If by the time A's weak shot was made, B is no longer in an offside position, then there is no offside.

And remember, there's more than the 2nd last defender to consider. B is not in an offside position if he is behind the ball. I suspect that may have been the case in your game.

Or the referee could have been mistaken, and not recognized B's offside position because of the shot.

Regardless, your last sentence is incorrect. There are two other ways that B can be relieved of being offside - if he is no longer in an offside position when a teammate again plays the ball, or if the ball goes out of play. And the opponent not only has to touch a ball to reset offside; it must be a controlled play.