Question Number: 27871

Law 11 - Offside 10/11/2013

RE: Rec Under 19

Sergio of Belmont, CA USA asks...

There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from:

a goal kick
a throw-in
a corner kick

Questions:
If the throw-in is deflected off an opponent(defender)then received by player(attacker)in offside position. Is that an offside offence? Did the player receive the ball directly?

In this case, the word 'directly' is at issue. What is 'directly' mean?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sergio
Directly means what is says. The defintion of directly is 'Without anyone or anything intervening''
In a soccer context the anyone is another player, anything does not apply and intervening is touching the ball.
So if the ball is touched, deflected by another player after the restart it is not directly.
In the case of Law 11 we know that a player cannot be offside from a throw in, goal kick or corner kick or from a deliberate play by an opponent. So in the TI context a player cannot be offside and the touch by a opponent does not change that. However were the touch to be a team mate then offside would be a consideration from that touch.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

In this context, 'directly' is referring to the last attacking touch. So we can't start considering offside until we're looking at the OTHER attacking players after the attacker who receives it from the goal kick, corner kick or throw in touches the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Forget the use of the word 'directly' for a moment and think about what you are asking and Law 11. When is offside ever considered? When the ball is last touched or played by a TEAMMATE. How could a touch (or controlled play for that matter) by an opponent change the offside status of an attacking player who, by definition, cannot be ruled offside regardless of his position?

In any potential offside situation, a deflection off an opponent changes nothing. Control of the ball by an opponent CAN change an offside situation but it can only free up an offside positioned player and allow him to now play the ball. Control by the opponents can never put an onside player offside.

The IFAB (folks who write the Laws) included the word "directly" in Law 11 to remind us if the ball touches another teammate while on the way to the player in question offside resets as it does anytime a teammate touches the ball. IMO it's unnecessary and only tends to confuse Americans. What would change if Law 11 read:

There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball from: ?   a goal kick ? athrow-in ?   a corner kick

First, if in any of these 3 occasions the ball is played by an opponent, there can be no offside by definition. If it's a teammate putting the ball in play, what does adding the word "directly" change? If the ball is played to an offside positioned player by a teammate at a goal kick, corner kick, or throw-in, and while on the way to this player glances off another teammate, offside resets whether the word "directly" is included in Law 11 or not.

So, to finally answer you, if the offside positioned player receives the ball indirectly due to contact with an opponent (or the referee), ignore it. If he receives it indirectly due to contact with a teammate, consider offside to be reset just like you would any other time.