Question Number: 27383

Law 11 - Offside 5/1/2013

RE: Competitive Travel Under 15

Tony Fong of Norton, MA USA asks...

I thought I had posted this question on Monday but do not see it on the recent question list and have not received a response. Last Sunday, my daughter's team was called for an offside which would have resulted in a dead breakaway. The situation was as follows. Our team cleared the ball from within our own 18 yard box. The ball went all the way past the center stripe to the opposing center defender. She was the last defender and went up to head it. Because it was just a bit high, it ended up to be more of a flick that ended up behind her. Our striker was behind her (technically in an offside position), got possession of the ball, and was on a dead breakaway. She was called for offsides. The question is if the opposing defender actually made a play on the ball, is this considered offsides? Granted, the opposing defender did not have full possession of the ball hence the flick backwards vs heading the ball back into our end. Thanks for your response.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

see 27375

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Coach. See 27375. I'm sorry I didn't get to close out questions the past few days.
It's still offside as the defender must control the ball to reset offside and what you describe is a deflection. Since your daughter was in an offside position when the ball was played by her teammate, she may not become actively involved in play until offside resets.