Question Number: 26475

Law 11 - Offside 6/19/2012

RE: ex pro Adult

rob therrien of vancouver, bc canada asks...

two players on a breakaway, only the keeper stands between them and the goal line. the player with the ball is ahead of his teammate by a few yards. the player with the ball plays the ball forward and his teammate runs on to the ball and scores. is he offside?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rob
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.
In your example the scorer is behind the ball and even as he has only one opponent namely the goalkeeper between himself and the goal line he is not in an offside position as the key wording in Law 11 is both the ball and second last opponent.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No. At the time of the last pass, the teammate is behind the ball.

To be in offside position, each of the following must be true:
(1) the player must be in the opponents half; (2) the player must be ahead of (not even with or behind) the second last defender; AND (3) the player must be ahead of (not even with or behind) the ball.

Many players forget about the third requirement.