Question Number: 25969

Law 11 - Offside 2/13/2012

Matthew of anaheim hills, ca orange asks...

offsides it the question, but its more technical, here is the picture:
_____________Goal line

* (defender)
#1 (attacker)

* (goal keeper)

o #2 (attacker)
(ball being kicked)

the question: is the #1 attacker offside, if her/she receives the ball in this position? and why?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Matthew
Of course # 1 attacker is in an offside position as he is nearer to the goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent which in this case is the goalkeeper.
The mistake that many make in these situations is that they make the assumption, based on the fact that the GK is most times near or on the goal line, that the outfield player (the defender) is the second last opponent.
Simply look on the GK as an opponent and the situation is patently clear who is the second last opponent.

_____________Goal line

* (Opponent)
#1 (attacker)

* (Opponent)

o #2 (attacker)
(ball being kicked)

Or perhaps another way to view this is to ask oneself that if the defender was the goalkeeper in this situation would you consider #1 attacker to be in an offside position. Remember Law 11 does not differentiate between the goalkeeper and outfield players.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The goalkeeper can be a 'defender' for determining offside position, and in your example is the second last defender.

When the ball was last touched by a teammate, #1 : (a) is in the opponent's half; and (b) is closer to the opponent's goal line than the (1) the second last defender and (2) the ball.

Thus, #1 is in offside position. #1 is ineligible to participate in play.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

For the purposes of offside, forget that the goalkeeper is a unique position. For judging Law 11, the goalkeeper is nothing more than 1 of 11 players on a team.

Normally the goalkeeper is the last defender (with one of the defenders being the 2nd last defender), but we have to be prepared for situations when the goalkeeper isn't the last defender.

Sometimes the goalkeeper becomes the 2nd last defender (thus the critical player we use to determine offside) - and sometimes he'll be evern further upfield, being the 3rd or 4th last defender (thus completely irrelevant to determining offside).

These situations can become really tricky, especially when the goalkeeper 1 or 2 defenders and 1 or 2 attackers are all moving back and forth across the offside 'line', meaning that the player upon which offside is determined can change, very quickly. A referee - and an AR - needs to be aware of this and be on his toes.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

#1 is nearer BOTH the next to last opponent and the ball so he is in an offside position and may not participate in play, if that is his position when the ball is kicked (which, according to the diagram seems to indicate the ball is being kicked by Attacker #2 while Attacker #1 is in the position in the diagram).

If he receives the ball and touches it, he'll be guilty of offside for interfering with play

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

See Question: 25971