Question Number: 24795

Law 11 - Offside 4/10/2011

RE: Representative Under 12

Jen of Menai, NSW Australia asks...

Re the offside rule when the keeper is involved in the play. We had a game today where our defender passed the ball back to the keeper who ran and had to play the ball with his feet. The ball rebounded from an attacking player from the other side and went to another attacking player who looked to be in an offside position. One comment was that the player wasn;t offside because once the keeper plays at the ball, he puts the attacking side onside. Is that correct??

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jen
Who last touched the ball before it went to the player in an offside position? His team mate had the last touch (the rebound) so offside consideration must apply. The kick by the goalkeeper is irrelevant unless it went directly to the player in an offside position in which case offside cannot apply.
I suspect that the PIOP may have looked like he was in an offside position but may not have been hence no offside.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Don't forget that when the goalkeeper moves up to play, that sometimes confuses the offside line - now who is the 2nd to last opponent? Usually the goalkeeper is the last, but not always, especially when moving up to play the ball. So it may have been confusing to see exactly whether the player was in an offside position or not.

That said, if the defense control the ball - in this case, both the defender who passed the ball and the goalkeeper - offside is not in effect. When the ball goes from the keeper to the attacker, offside is reset. That is the time when the decision on offside position is made. So the first attacker was clearly not offside; the second may have been if he was in an offside position at the time the first played/touched the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

After the keeper played the ball, the moment the ball touched another attacker, offside can be judged.

The comment as you heard is incorrect. If the next attacker after the rebound was in an offside position when the rebound took play, he may not become actively involved in play or he will penalized for an offside infrction