Question Number: 25168

Law 11 - Offside 7/4/2011

RE: Travel Under 15

Eddie of Newark, NJ USA asks...

A2 receives the ball from A1. A2 was offsides when he received the ball, but before A2 received the ball the defender deflected the ball to A2. Would you call this an offside?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Eddie
This is still offside as the deflection by the defender does not reset offside. Offside is determined at the moment A1 touched/played the ball. A2 is called offside when he interferes with play by touching the ball or he interferes with an opponent.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Offside position is judged when the ball was last touched by a teammate - - not when it is received. So, the first question is whether A2 was in an offside position when A1 passed it.

Assuming he was, the deflection by the defender changes nothing. A player in offside position remains ineligible to play the ball until: (a) a defender possesses and controls the ball; (b) the ball goes out of play; or (c) the player is in an onside position the next time the ball is touched by a teammate.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Eddie and thanks for the question.

You leave out a very important part of the question. You state 'A2 was offside when he received the ball...' It doesn't matter where he was when he received the ball. Where was he when the ball was played by A1? Offside is only judged at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate.

But you really want to know how a deflection by an opponent affects offside so let's look at that. For the sake of argument we will assume A2 was in an offside position at the moment A1 played the ball. If the ball is deflected by an opponent before it gets to A2, A2 will still have committed an offside violation if he plays or touches the ball or interferes with an opponent. Why? Because a mere deflection by an opponent does not reset offside. The opponent would have to maintain control of the ball to reset offside.