Question Number: 24348

Law 11 - Offside 11/20/2010

RE: all Other

Steve Moore of Indianapolis, IN USA asks...

Law 11 states no offense for offside on a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick. Table 8.6 in the Advice to Referees on the laws of the game also shows that a player cannot be declared offside if they directly receive the ball on a dropped ball. Is this referring to a player challenging for the dropped ball or does it refer to a player that receives the ball directly from a player that participated in the dropped ball?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

This is referring to the player challenging the drop ball, not the player who may receive it from the player challenging the drop ball.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

'Receives ball directly' in this case means this player was the one who first touched the ball when it hit the ground. Since it isn't in play until it hits the ground, and since there is no way to be offside from a restart by the referee (the dropped ball), there is no way to call the player who gets the ball from the drop as being guilty of offside.

Now, should the player who gets the ball then pass it to a teammate who is in an offside position, well, that's a different kettle of fish.