Question Number: 25959

Law 11 - Offside 2/9/2012

RE: Competetive Adult

Viktor Zabelin of Sand Springs, Oklahoma United States asks...

OK here is my situation: player #1 has the ball and dribbling on the side. Player #2 is running past the defence, therefore putting himself in the offside. So we have a player with a ball followed by a player followed by a LAST defender. When the ball is passed from player #1 to player #2 (backwards!) is it offside or not?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Offside position requires that an attacker be closer to the opponents' goal line than the second last defender AND the ball. So long as #2 is even with or behind the ball (when the ball is last touched by a teammate), #2 is onside and eligible to play the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Viktor
Direction of the pass is not relevant in determining offside. A player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. If Player #2 is behind the ball then he is not in an offside position and the ball can be played to him in any direction.
However if Player #2 is in an offside position ahead of the ball and the ball is played backwards then that player will be called offside when he touches the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

If #1 was passing ball backwards to #2, why do you say #2 is in an offside position? Do you mean #2 ran backwards to get the ball? If #2 is behind the ball when it is passed, he cannot be offside