Question Number: 25253

Law 11 - Offside 7/25/2011

RE: Rec Under 19

Fred Valdez of Wingham, Ontario Canada asks...

A player in the offside position (past the second last defender) receives the ball from the other team from a misdirected kick in the midfield. Is that player offside?
Thanks,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Has to be closer to the opponent's goal line than BOTH the next to last opponent and the ball.

Offside is only judged when the ball is last touched or played by a teammate. Unless before the misdirected kick the ball was played by a teammate AND the referee believed the misdirected kick did not constitute control there can be no offside here

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Fred
It all depend on what you describe as a misdirected kick. If a team had clear control of the ball in midfield and its player miskicks the ball which was intended for a team mate goes to an opponent in an offside position then that is not offside.
A player in an offside position is only penalised at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team not an opponent and he subsequently becomes involved in active play.
The only exception to that is where the ball is payed by a team mate and subseqently rebounds to the player in an offside position off an opponent or frame of the goal. That is referred to 'gaining an advantage by being in an offside position'. That can included a one touch miskick/deflection or header by an opponent where no control is exerted over the ball.
Once a team exerts control over the ball its opponents cannot be offside from any touch/play by the team in possession/control of the ball. An extreme example would be a goalkeeper has possession of the ball after picking it up inside the penalty area. He throws the ball down and a forward comes to close him down and he is now say 20 yards on his own in an offside position. Under pressure the goalkeeper miskicks the ball to the forward. That will never ever be offside.