Question Number: 25158

Law 11 - Offside 7/2/2011

RE: Adult

james durrant of Ashington, England great Briton asks...

if the foward is in an off side postion and the defender from the other team trys to play a back pass will the foward be classed as offside

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi James
A player can only be offside on a touch/play of the ball from a team mate. When the ball is deliberately played by a player it cannot be offside when intercepted by an opponent. The only exception to this is where the ball deflects/rebounds off an opponent from a pass by a team mate. The deflection/rebound does not reset offside

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No. A player is eligible to play any ball last possessed and controlled by an opponent. The player will not be judged to be in offside position until the next time a teammate touches the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Nope. It can only be an offside offense if the ball was last touched or played by a teammate.

The only way in this situation for an offside to occur would be if the defender's pass was actually a miskick - no control. In that case, it is as if the defender did not touch the ball, and the attacker in an offside position is subject to being called for offside if he interferes with play, with an opponent or gains an advantage.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

James, every referee in every country in the world, especially where football was invented knows it is NOT an offense to be in an offside position. Every referee in every country in the world knows offside is ONLY judged when the ball is last touched or played by a TEAMMATE.

Therefore, every referee in every country in the world knows, there can be NO offside if the ball is played by an OPPONENT

To elaborate a bit on Ref Maloney's answer: if the offside positioned player is in that position and the ball is played by a teammate but it is intercepted by an opponent who miskicks the ball with no control, then the OPP will be guilty of offside if he plays the ball