Question Number: 24785

Law 11 - Offside 4/7/2011

RE: Rec Adult

John Gibson of Toronto, Canada asks...

This has been bothering me for some time and I've yet to get a proper answer. Can a player be offside if the initial run and pass came from within his own half. Say the defenders of team A were holding a high line near half way and a player from team B gets the ball and the striker immediately starts running from his own half before the ball is played, then the player with the ball passes past the defenders to the striker. The striker would be in an offside position if no defender was playing him onside. My only question is around where the initial run for the ball is made from and whether that can beat the offside trap

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

It doesn't matter where the pass originates from. If the player is in the attacking half of the field and is nearer the opposing goal line than both the next to last opponent AND the ball, he is in an offside position. If he is in an offside position when the ball is played by a teammate (other than a goal kick, corner kick, or throw-in) he may not become actively involved in play until offside resets.

In your question the striker runs from his own half before the ball is played. This doesn't mean anything. The ONLY time you judge offside is when the ball is played. If the striker has passed the second to last opponent when the ball is played, he is in an offside position (he is obviously nearer the opposing goal line than the ball from your description) and may not play the ball.

The offside trap is the easiest thing in the world to beat. It requires only 2 things:
1. An Assistant Referee that understands offside
2. Attacking players that understand offside (usually this means the coach understands offside).

If the defenders are playing an offside trap by holding a line in their half near the halfway line all the attacking strikers have to do is stay on the halfway line inside their own half and listen for the kick on the ball. The moment the ball is kicked, they are free to take off and if the defending line is close to the halfway line, the strikers likely will be 15 yards behind them when they get to the ball. Of course, once one of the strikers touches the ball, offside resets and his fellow strikers may then be in offside position.

If the defenders are holding a line say 15 yards from the halfway line, all the attackers have to do is stay even with the line and repeat what I outlined in the first example.

I worked a game a few years back as an AR where the defenders were running an offside trap. In my experience the ONLY coaches that run an offside trap are ones that have no understanding of the offside Law. In this game, the attacking coach had one striker stay even with the defending line and wait for the kick of the ball before taking off. He scored 3 goals inside of 10 minutes. Instead of changing his flawed strategy, the coach started screaming at me. 2 more goals were scored before the coach realized my flag was staying down unless the attacker left early. Of course at halftime the coach demanded an explanation from the center referee why he wasn't overruling me. I tried to explain to the coach that it didn't matter where the attacker was when he actually got to the ball and that offside was only judged by where the attacker was when the ball was played. the attacker in question was onside when the ball was played almost every time. When he wasn't, my flag went up. Coach didn't want to hear any of this as he was convinced that the attacker was offside when he played the ball. Hopefully, getting trounced 10-0 made the coach at least go read Law 11.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
The position or direction of the pass/touch by a team mate is irrelevant in offside Law 11. It is only the position of the player, that interferes with play or an opponent, when the ball is played that matters.
A player cannot be in an offside position in his own half so let's say that he is in his own half when the ball is played then no matter where he touches the ball he cannot be offside. However let's say that the player runs too early from his own half and he gets beyond the 2nd last defender in the attacking half before the ball is played then that is offside when he interferes with play. He is in an offside position when the ball was last played/touched by a team mate even though he began his run in his own half.