Question Number: 25350

Law 11 - Offside 8/23/2011

RE: Select Under 14

Ron Woodruff of Cincinnati, OH USA asks...

Offside Question:
I was the AR for a U13 girls game and the ball was on the opposite of the field from me. The goalie was on the near post and an attacker was on the far post (near me) in a offside position.

The ball was kicked towards the attacker who attempted a head ball but was too short, however the ball went over her head and into the net

I raised my flag when I saw her go up for the header and then put my flag down since she was not the scorer. (Was that correct?)

The center ref and I discussed whether she was involved in the play and we called it offside. Were we correct?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ron
The question that has to be answered is whether the attacker interfered with an opponent in this situation. As the PIOP did not touch the ball she did not interfere with play. As described it comes under the category "Interfering with an opponent" which means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.
So did the attacker prevent the goalkeeper from moving towards the ball to try to save the ball? If the answer to that is yes then it is offside. If the answer is no then it is not offside.
As regards the flag mechanics here. Once you raised the flag you should hold the flag up until it is dealt with by the referee which includes beckoning the referee across.The referee must be certain that there is active involvement before deciding for offside. In these cases the best decision is wait and see with the AR delaying the flag before making the call. If there is any doubt about the validity of the goal the AR should not move towards the half way line which is a signal to the CR that all is not well. He will then deal with the AR's concerns before awarding/disallowing the goal. Had the referee needed to award the goal here the defending team will have seen the flag confirming its view. The CR though must be tuned in though to the AR with good eye contact and look for confirmation or otherwise of the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

You should not have raised the flag unless the player in offside position actually touched the ball. It should have stayed down.

In the US, there is a special procedure for the assistant referee when the ball is inside the goal but the assistant believes it is not a good goal. A raised flag means only one thing - - the person who actually scored was offside. If there is any other reason the assistant referee believes the goal should be disallowed (e.g., the attacking team committed a foul, a teammate was offside for interfering with a defender), the procedure is for the assistant referee to stand at attention.

As to the decision regarding allowing the goal - the referee asked almost the right question: the better phrasing is 'did the player in offside position interfere with the keeper's ability to see or play the ball.' Usually, this is something that only the referee has a good angle to judge. The assistant referee's angle of view from the side usually makes it difficult to judge how close the PIOP was to the keeper. Merely being in an offside position, however, is not enough. The PIOP must do something that interferes.

It sound like you made the correct call on the field. Next time, however, remember to wait just a second more before raising the flag.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Ron,

My colleagues have covered the potential offside scenario, so I'll briefly discuss the mechanics here.

At all times you should operate under the principle that a late, but correct flag is better than an early, but incorrect flag. This applies whether it's in front of the goalmouth, or close to the middle of the field. Wait that extra moment just to be sure, then flag it if necessary. Raising the flag early causes all sorts of problems - it can cause conflict and disrespect over a clearly incorrect decision, and disrupt the teamwork between officials. If you 'yo-yo' the flag (raise it then drop it when you realise you were incorrect) then problems can still arise as the defenders may have stopped upon seeing the flag.

Flagging too early is an easy mistake and many of us have certainly done it, but just remember that a late, but correct decision is infinitely better than an early, but incorrect one.