Question Number: 26616

Law 11 - Offside 8/9/2012

RE: a aa Other

Nick of Montreal, Canada asks...

Offside
player in ofside position moves back to be in an onside position then moves forward to play a ball that was passed just as he was in line with the second last player, is he a valid player or offside as he gained an advantage by being offside then onside then played the ball. Hope you see where this is going.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Nick. Thanks for the question.
When considering offside, the ONLY position that matters is the one the attacking player was in at the moment the ball is touched or played by a teammate.
The attacker in question was even with the next to last opponent when the ball was played by his teammate.
No offside here.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Nick
Position before the ball is played by a team mate is irrelevant. It is the position of the player when the ball is touched / played by a team mate that counts only in offside.
So when the player is level with the second last player when the ball is played by a team mate that is not offside and it makes no difference how he got there either running from an onside position or from an offside position.
The only issue is determining the position at the moment the ball was played which is always difficult to do on tight calls. The referee or assistant referee has to determine whether the player actually got back to an onside position before the ball was played. Therein lies the challenge on movement on tight calls.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Nick: for the purpose of deciding offside position, the assistant referee can ignore where the player was before the ball was touched by a teammate and can ignore where the player ends up after the ball was touched. Offside position is judged the moment the ball is touched.

That said, players who are always running back from an offside position are usually unaware that their trailing leg is still in offside position. They are more likely to be judged in offside position at the moment the ball is touched by a teammate than a player who carefully times her runs.

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