Question Number: 27087

Law 11 - Offside 12/28/2012

RE: Rec, Competitive Under 15

Sam A of Tiburon, CA US asks...

Mike Dean allowed a Jonny Evans own goal this week in the Newcastle / ManU game, although Cisse was flagged for offside and was involved with Evans for several seconds before and during the time Evans touched the ball. The FA ruled that the call was correct in that 'Cisse did not play the ball' and 'didn't interfere with the opponent.' I have no problem with the first part of that, but -having seen the play in real time and in several replays - am now very much unsure of what would constitute 'interference.' Can you help define this?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sam
In the incident you refer to I believe the AR flagged offside for interfering with play as he believed the ball was last touched by Cisse the Newcastle player. The referee Mike Dean clearly saw that it came off Evans so he overruled the AR and awarded the goal. The offside decision could certainly not have been for 'interfering with play' as Cisse of Newcastle did not touch the ball. The question then was whether Cisse while in an offside position was 'interfering with an opponent'. The video replays clearly show that Cisse did not prevent Evans from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing Evans' line of vision or movements. It is then left for the referee and AR to decide whether the 2nd element of 'interfering with an opponent' was present and whether Cisse made a gesture or movement which deceived or distracted Evans. The interpretation of the Law is somewhat mute on what is meant by deception and distraction.

For me the fact that there was contact between the players and that contact by Cisse, in an offside position, altered Evan's body angle before playing the ball was sufficient 'distraction' for offside to have been called. Had there been no contact between the players then Evans was not 'interfered with' and therefore no offence.
Some of Law 11 is written to allow interpretation by the referee and assistant and as such there is no definitive answer. Another referee could interpret Cisse's actions as interfering and call the offside.

So all that means that being actively involved in the area of play is not the same as being in the area of active play. The player in an offside position must be reasonably close to the play and do something more so that the 'interference' makes a difference to play.
So you decide. Was Cisse in the area of active play (no offence) or actively involved in the area of play (offence).

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The question for the referee was whether the player in offside position hindered the defender's ability to play the ball. Simply being near the defender is not enough, particularly at the professional level.

At one time, simply being in the 'zone' of active play was enough for someone to be considered offside (e.g., when a defender kicked the ball out rather than allow a pass to reach a player in offside position). As the offside law has evolved, however, the focus has shifted from the presence of the player in offside position to his conduct. What did he do that affected the opponent?