Question Number: 25268

Law 11 - Offside 7/30/2011

Mike of Boston, MA USA asks...

During a scramble in front of the goal, an attacking player receives the ball in an offside position and 'scores'.

The AR could see the player in the offside position but could NOT see who played the ball (it could have been a defender trying to clear the ball).

What is the correct procedure for the AR and CR to handle this situation? I think the AR should stand without signaling (in effect calling the CR over to discuss who saw what and letting the CR make the final decision).

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The Assistant Referee should raise the flag only if: (a) she is 100 percent certain that (b) the player who scored the goal was offside. The assistant referee cannot guess. When in doubt the flag stays down.

Here, the Assistant Referee is 100 percent certain that the person who scored the goal was in offside position, but not sure if the the ball was last controlled and played by a defender or an attacker. The referee probably is 100 percent certain who last played the ball, but not if the player who scored was in offside position. Each referee has 1/2 of the information necessary to make the correct call.

You are correct that the AR should indicate 'I have questions about whether this is a good goal' by standing at attention. The referee then should speak with the AR, and make a decision whether to allow the goal based on all the facts.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mike
The correct procedure is that the AR simply stands where he is which indicates to the referee that the AR has information or doubts about the validity of the goal. When a goal is scored the CR should look across to the AR to ensure that he is in agreement with the award of the goal. This is shown by a sprint towards the half way line.
In this situation the CR will see the AR standing in the same position and he will go across to ascertain the reason. If they both agree that it is offside then the game restarts with an IDFK. If there is no offside offence then the goal is awarded and the restart is a kick off.