Question Number: 26920

Law 11 - Offside 10/20/2012

RE: Adult

Michael Dotlich of Brownsburg, IN United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 26226

Hi, thanks for fielding questions. This website has been great for getting answers to many different scenarios.

I have a follow-up question to 26226. Specifically to when does a PIOP interfere with a keeper?. In 26226, the statement is made in one answer: 'In this case the goalkeeper assumed incorrectly that there was going to be cross and moved to anticipate that. That is an error of judgement and as a result the players in an offside position did not obstruct the GK's view nor did they distract the goalkeeper which means that it is not offside.'

I was taught in certification training, all be it maybe incorrectly, that a PIOP can interfere with a keeper by drawing attention to themselves by appearing to position themselves to be in the play. So again, can interference include positioning such that a keeper thinks a player is in the play, such as being located in the penalty area opposite to the shooter in a place to receive a cross? If this is not interference, then should the keeper know which players are PIOP?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Michael
It the referee's opinion as to whether the player in an offside position is making any gesture or movement which deceives or distracts.
If you look at the full Laws of the Game booklet. which can be downloaded from FIFA, Diagrams 8 and 9 referring to Law 11 on pages 108 , 109, are essentially identical with the exception of distance between the players and involving deception and distraction.
Being in an offside position is not enough on its own and the defenders including the goalkeeper must anticipate actual play rather than what might happen.
So a goalkeeper going to the front post to 'mark' a PIOP and the ball goes to the back post to an onside player that is not offside unless the PIOP interfered with the goalkeeper.
Positioning on it's own is not interference and the defender making a wrong choice based on positioning alone is not a reason for calling offside.