Question Number: 27411

Law 11 - Offside 5/8/2013

RE: Rec. Under 10

Scott O'Connor of Lovingston, Virginia United States asks...

My question concerns offside- There are two center forwards in the center and the right winger whips in a good ball (ball moving slightly forward)knee height to the middle. The first forward is in an offside position, misses the ball by less than an inch but reaches for it with his foot. The ball carries on where it gets to the second forward who is onside, controls ball and scores the goal.

The goal counted, but I felt like it should have been called offside because of first forward interfering with play by forcing the goalkeeper to cover his near post more prudent, therefore having less time to cover his far post where goal was scored. I'm not sure if I am correct.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Scott,

This is a tricky one, and in my experience there is disagreement amongst referees in these situations. Many scenarios are open to interpretation under the laws of the game.

Simply being in an offside position, or even making a run pulling a defender out of position doesn't constitute 'interfering with an opponent'. FIFA's reasoning is that the offside law isn't designed to protect a defender against marking the wrong player. The purpose of the changes to offside law is to reduce stoppages and promote attacking play, hence the reasoning here.

Could reaching for the ball constitute offside though? 'Interfering with play' is defined as 'touching or playing the ball'. What does 'playing the ball' mean? I don't believe this is clearly defined in the laws, so some referees would consider a dummy or an attempt to play the ball sufficient to penalise for offside.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Scott
Interesting scenario and one that the referee has to make a call on based on the circumstances of the situation. So if there is no contact on the ball then interfering with play is not an option to call offside.
If the referee considers that the ball was in fact not played then the only other options is interfering with an opponent. If the referee deems that the action of the player in an offside position did not interfere with an opponent then offside should not be called there either.
Also forcing the goalkeeper into a choice is not enough in its own right to be considered as interfering with an opponent. The referee has to consider that the action of the player in an offside position prevented the goalkeeper from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or challenged an opponent for the ball.
IFAB has clarified Law 11 in the new Lawbook in respect of interfering with an opponent. The new wording will read "" ?interfering with an opponent? means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent?s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball"".
In the absence of contact on the ball and no challenge for the ball then offside should not be called.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

There was a time when being that close to play was enough to infringe the offside law.

But, not today. Because the attacker did not touch the ball, the referee needs to judge whether he did something that hindered a defender/goalkeeper's ability to see the ball or to play the ball. In most cases, the issue isn't how close is the one in offside position to the ball, but how close is she to the defender. The closer she is, the more likely she interfered with the defender.

Doubts are resolved in favor of not offside.

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