Question Number: 25600

Law 11 - Offside 10/13/2011

RE: Intermediate Under 12

Phil of Tarzana, CA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 25563

Thank you all for your answers. I have to say that I'm still somewhat confused. I compared your answers to those in question 22960 & can't see why there would be a different result.

In that question, you said that when the defender was immediately pressured by the offside attacker, the interference was an infringement.

That's what happened here. As a result of the pressure, D1 barely got the ball away & passed the ball to a teammate who was not in the clear. There were other teammates in the clear & our defender could have passed to them if she had another second or two, if not pressured.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Phil
Many of these are a ' One has to be there' call. What was suggested was a quick pass by D1 under pressure to a team mate who subsequently lost the ball to another opponent. That is not unusual. Player in an offside coming from behind an opponent who passes the ball away to a team mate. Has the PIOP interfered with an opponent? Many times play will continue without a call for offside. The offence if it does exist is trifling and one can argue that its impact on D2 was questionable, at least that is the way the referee saw it.
In this case D2 controlled the ball and then chose a poor option losing the ball.
Yes it can be viewed either way. Another referee can decide that the pressure on D1 was sufficient for interfering with an opponent. On balance when the ball was passed away, went to another player D2 who controlled the ball then one can argue that any offside has been reset. There would be no argument if D1 lost the ball in the circumstances.
BTW offside is never black and white and the words 'in the opinion of the referee' says it all.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The way I read the two questions, there was a slight difference in my interpretation. Not being there, I can only go by what I saw in my mind base on the written descriptions.

In 22960, it seems to me that the pressure applied by the offside attacker was enough to either shut down the defender or steal the ball back. That would be interfering with an opponent.

In 25563, the way I read it was that despite pressure by the offside attacker, D1 was able to get a pass away to D2. Then D2 gave it up. That sounded like a mistake by D2, not an offside call for interfering with D1. Now you are saying that possibly D1 was more pressured than I first thought. OK, that might be your opinion, but obviously it was not the opinion shared by the center referee. It's all about the opinion of the referee based on what we see.