Question Number: 26914

Law 11 - Offside 10/18/2012

RE: Competitive High School

Michael of East Longmeadow, MA USA asks...

In a HS game I watched tonight a pass was attempted by player A to player B who was 'off side.' But the pass was deflected by a defender before ever reaching player B. Player B then beat the defender to the deflected ball and scored but the play was still ruled off-side. Since the opposing player touched the ball is 'off-side' still the correct call?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

A defensive touch does not nullify offside - though I've heard so many people argue the opposite that I couldn't blame anybody for believing that.

Even if the defender makes a deliberate effort to intercept the ball (as opposed to, say, a kick deflecting off him when he doesn't have the chance to react), this still does not nullify offside.

Control is the key issue. If that defender had controlled the ball, then we may have moved on from offside (though if he stops the ball and is immediately pressured/challenged, we'd still penalise the attacker). For instance, if the defender, when intercepting, made a controlled play back to the keeper but Player B then intercepted, then we would not penalise that player - but if there's been no control, then it's still offside.

By your description it sounds like the correct decision was made

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Michael
There are three ways in which offside is reset
1. The ball goes directly out of play
2. An onside team mate plays the ball and begins a new phase of play
3. The opponents gains control of the ball without immediate interference from the player/s in an offside position and play continues
A deflection / rebound off an opponent is not control of the ball and therefore offside is not reset. So in this scenario the referee made the correct call. The same applies if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper at a save or off the frame of the goal. The player in an offside position when he plays the ball will still be called offside.
As an interesting aside at one time in the Laws this was not considered offside and it is interesting that your observation arrived at a no offside call. The Laws have been amended annually for a very long time and important decisions have influenced these calls. The law makers no doubt felt that it was 'harsh' that a player in an offside should benefit from that position through a deflection / rebound when perhaps the defender was stretching to stop the ball reaching the player in an offside position hence the law change which is the current position.
Thank you for your question

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

A player in offside position may not play the ball after it deflects off a defender. The offside call was correct.

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