Question Number: 27645

Law 11 - Offside 8/6/2013

RE: Rec Adult

Scott of Redondo Beach, California United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 27435

What if the player in an offside position attempts to play the ball, but misses, would this be considered an offside offense?
Example: A cross comes in from the wing to an attacking player in an offside position at the near post. The goalie goes to cover the near post as the attacking player attempts to kick the ball. Player A misses the ball and the ball continues on its path to go into the goal at the far post.

In this example, if the attacking player had been removed from the play, the goalie would have been able to make a play on the ball at the far post. Is this an example of an offside offense?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Scott
It now depends on how close the players are to each other. As the player has not touched the ball it cannot be the 'interfering with play' condition or 'gaining an advantage by being in that position'.
The only other condition is 'interfering with an opponent'. That condition has now been defined as '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'.
This has nothing to do with affecting positioning or making a player play the ball.
So if the goalkeeper's line of sight to the ball was not affected and the player in an offside position was not involved in a challenge for the ball then there is no offside.
I suspect though that in reality an ARs might call this incorrectly if it is particularly blatant offside position either because of an early premature flag or they think there is contact on the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

If a player in offside position does not touch the ball, he can still infringe the offside law if he interferes with an opponent's ability to see or play the ball.
But, if no such opponent is near, the answer is no. Being in an offside position is not enough - no matter how close to the ball. Failing in an attempt to play the ball is not enough, no matter how comical.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Scott,

What we're more looking at here is whether his presence could have blocked the keeper's view of the ball or access to the ball. If so then he should be penalised for offside.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 27686