Question Number: 25822

Law 11 - Offside 12/8/2011

RE: Rec Under 15

Nicolas Rees of Mountain View, ca usa asks...

Has one of the concepts of the offside rule changed that the player now has to actually touch the ball to be considered offside where before they did not have to touch it to be considered offside?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Nicolas
The Law has not changed other than the interpretation of interfering with play was clarified in 2005 to state that a touch of the ball is now required. For a player to interfere with play he/she must now touch the ball. However a touch of the ball is not required to 'intefere with an opponent'.
When Law 11 was amended in 2005 IFAB issued an amendment which stated that a player in an offside position may be penalised before playing or touching the ball if, in the opinion of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball.
Unfortunately that concession is being abused by many associations where ARs are flagging for offside in situations where it is not, such as the ball going out for a throw in, goal kick.
If there is any doubt the AR should not flag until the player in an offside position touches the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

IFAB defines on page 102 of the I&G section of the Laws:
"interfering with play" means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate

However on page 105 they also state:
A player in an offside position may be penalised before playing or touching the ball, if, in the opinion of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball.

USSF has instructed that how are we to know no other teammate has an opportunity to play the ball, unless we wait to see who plays the ball?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The approach has changed and the concepts have been evolving throughout the past decade.

Being in offside position has never been enough to infringe the offside law. Yet, flags went up whenever the ball was near someone in offside position. This denied players who were onside the opportunity to play the ball. So, definitions were added that 'interfering with play' and 'gaining an advantage' required touching the ball. (Note: offside for interfering with a defender's ability to see or play the ball does not require touching the ball.)

FIFA issued a circular that allowed the flag to go up if, in the referee's opinion, no one could play the ball from an onside position. Quick flags, however, often stopped play just as someone rushed from an onside position to play the ball. The AR didn't wait long enough. The USSF has instructed its referees that the only way to know that no one else can play the ball from an onside position is to wait and see who actually plays it.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 25833