Question Number: 27996

Law 11 - Offside 11/11/2013

RE: Adult

Rya of vancouver, British Columbia Canada asks...

an attacker in a offside position ran back towards a defender for the ball , but before the ball reached him the ball bounce off from the defender and went out of bound .

should a off side foul be called or
a throw in be awarded to the attacking team

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ryan
Unless the player in an offside position interfered with the opponent which means he prevented the 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 then there is no offside.
Now if in the opinion of the referee the circumstances are not certain what will happen and there is danger of a collision with the lone forward who is running towards the ball and defender then offside can be called before the ball is touched or interference occurs. Only the referee and AR can judge that. If the ball goes out of play with no interference from the player in an offside position then the restart is a throw in to the opponents of the player who last touched the ball, in this case a TI to the attacking team.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

In general, the throw-in should be allowed. It is not an offence to be in an offside position. It is not an offense for a player in offside position to run towards the ball.

The referee needs to decide if the player in offside position made a challenge for the ball or otherwise interfered with the defender's ability to see or play the ball.