Question Number: 28153

Law 11 - Offside 2/3/2014

RE: All levels Adult

Scott of Hopkinsville, KY USA asks...

Gentlemen,
I just went to a recertification class and heard something that I was am not sure about. I was wondering if you could shed some light on it for me.

For USSF referees:
We were instructed that if there is a PIOP that does not get involved in play and the ball is about to be collected by the defense/goalkeeper/over the goal line that we are to raise our arms and signal for advantage.

I have not read that in any decision papers or in LOTG books. Have you heard of this or is it just something local they want us to do?

Thanks for you time and I love this site.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Scott
Last year USSF introduced the concept for playing advantage on other offences other than Law 12. So now if it is clear that that the defending team will benefit from playing advantage on an offside infringement then the referee can do so.
An example would be where an attacker heads the ball, in an offside position, weakly into the arms of the goalkeeper. Rather than stopping play the referee can play advantage which allows the goalkeeper to punt the ball or distribute it quickly for a counter attack.
Like in regular advantage the defensive third is not a good place to be playing advantage unless it is obvious to do so with no danger of the play going awry.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the PIOP does not get involved in play, then there is no offside offense. Applying advantage to a non-offense wouldn't be done.

Referees are instructed to 'wait and see' what happens. In most cases, it isn't as much advantage as the offside offense didn't occur. Ref McHugh gives an example of one offense where the player does get involved because he heads the ball, but ineffectually. Sometimes, even in the defending end, the goalkeeper with ball in hand is a better advantage for a quick turn-around than it would be to stop play for the offside.

Perhaps your instructor was searching for an example of when advantage could be applied for offside - in which case the signal would be used - but couldn't think of a good one at the time.