Question Number: 25403

Law 11 - Offside 9/8/2011

RE: Rec Under 15

Bob of St. Louis, MO USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 25392

I've gotten this question before as well and I'm not the question asked was the question answered. I've had people yell quite a bit that the player can not be offside because they are behind the ball. Of course, a player CAN be called offside when they are behind the ball assuming they were in an offside position when it was last touched by a teammate. I know all of you know this, but I just wanted to clarify in case the person asking did not...

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

That's definitely true. Offside position is determined each and every time a teammate touches or plays the ball. It's like a snapshot taken at that time. If a player moves from an offside position to onside after the teammate's touch, she still is not allowed to become involved.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Bob
That is indeed correct and while I thought about that scenario, the assumption was made that the starting point of the player was behind the ball.
These offside situations happen when the player is in an offside position ahead of the ball, as it is played to him and then returns to an onside position before touching the ball. One could argue that the player in these offside positions rarely if ever gets behind the ball from that offside starting position.
So it would be more appropriate to say that a player can still be called offside while touching a ball in an onside position.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

100% correct but we all assumed when asked that the player 'behind the ball' was there when the ball was last touched or played by a teammate.

As you point out, it's where the player was when the ball was touched or played by a teammate that counts, not where he collects or touches the ball