Question Number: 27811

Law 11 - Offside 9/24/2013

RE: rec Adult

alex of richmond hill, ontario canada asks...

Are there any guidelines as to the differences between deflection and miskick by the defender when the ball was kicked by the other team to an offside attacker? When a defender intercepting the ball poorly (in the opinion of the referee that the defender should be able to intercept the ball comfortably at the skill level of the players) and the ball went to the offside attacker, do we call an offside offense?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alex
Offside is reset when the ball is played in a controlled manner, not when it is simply deflected, miskicked or misdirected by an opponent, including the opposing goalkeeper.
So the referee or assistant has to decide if the kick is indeed deliberate or in fact a miskick.
I tend to look at from the perspective of did the kick go in the direction it was intended. If the defender tries to kick the ball to the right and the kick ends up to the left then that is clearly a miskick or for that matter a deflection and it does not reset the offside. If on the other hand the intent is to kick it to the right and it goes to the right then one has to assume that is controlled and a reset of offside.
Here is a series of 5 videos which tries to explain the recent Law 11 changes
http://garcia-aranda.com/offsideifab/eng003.html
Just click on each video to view it and in the explanation button to see the decision. You will notice that in one video that a player miskicks the ball which looks like a deflection.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Some referees believe that, after considering the skill level of the players, if they should have been able to control the ball but failed to do so then this will nullify offside (as opposed to failing to control a difficult ball).

Personally, I don't believe the notion of 'well, he should have been able to control it' is supported by either the LOTG themselves nor the intent of Law 11.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The recent changes in the language of Law 11 go right to the heart of your question. Referees will be considering whether the defender had time and space to make a deliberate decision to play the ball. The emphasis is moving from clear possession and control of the ball to a deliberate play on the ball (other than a deliberate save).

All doubts are resolved in favor of 'not offside.'