Question Number: 25963

Law 11 - Offside 2/11/2012

RE: u16b comp

Chuck Felt of Rio Vista, Ca. Solano asks...

Near mid field in the attacking half. An onside attacker with the ball splits 2 defenders and is on a break away 1 on 1 attack against the goal keeper. The gk charges towards the attacker to close off the shooting angles. As the gk nears the top of the penalty area, a shot is taken. The gk deflects the shot behind, closer to the goal area. The gk, attacker and 2 defenders are in the area where the shot was deflected. A 2nd attacker trailing the attack is 1st to the ball, shoots the ball into the goal. There are no defenders between the ball and the goal line. Is this player offside and no goal allowed?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Chuck
Law 11 states that 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.
From your description the 2nd attacker when the shot was taken was behind the ball so he was not in an offside position. As a result he was entitled to get involved in play.
If on the other hand the 2nd attacker was ahead of the ball and the 2nd last opponent then he is in an offside position and he should be penalised for offside when he touches the ball. The deflection of the goalkeeper does not reset the offside

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There are 3 conditions for a player to be in an offside position:
- nearer the goal line than the ball
- nearer the goal line than the 2nd to last opponent
- in the attacking half of the field.
That position is noted each and every time a teammate touches/plays the ball.

All 3 conditions must be there to be in an offside position. Many people forget the first, being ahead of the ball. In your situation, since the second attacker was trailing the play, it doesn't sound like he was ahead of the ball and thus he was not in an offside position.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You are forgetting an important requirement to be in an offside position. To be in an offside position, a player must also be nearer the opposing goal line than the BALL.
An attacker behind the ball when the ball is played may never be offside.

Award the goal