Question Number: 28343

Law 11 - Offside 4/15/2014

RE: level 7 Other

Sergio of Fort Bragg , NC USA asks...

My question has to do with the offside law.
Player A11 is in an offside position left side and Player A9 is in an onside position right side. Player A5 kicks the ball over the defense to the left side to A9.

A11 continues to run down on the right side. A9 red kicks the ball and A11 is behind the ball when it is kicked by A9 . The defenders did not move down the field.

1. The ball deflects off the goal keeper. A11 picks up the loose ball and kick it in to the goal. Is Player A11 offside or is he onside?

2. Second same situation but A9 pass the ball to A11.

In both cases, I would not call offside. But my partner said it was. What he told me was that the player never was put in an onside position, and that by beginning in an offside position he gained an advantage.
What do you think ?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sergio
Opening line in Law 11 states "" It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position". So the player in an offside position has to do something more such as interfering with play or with an opponent to be called offside.
In both these situation there is no offside offence. When RedA9 took control of the ball he began a new phase of play. Each touch of the ball by a Red player is a new phase of play. When he then played the ball RedA11 was in an onside position and he could not be called offside in either situation.
So your colleague is incorrect. RedA11 put himself in an onside position when he moved / positioned himself behind the ball when the new phases of play begun.
If one looks at other sports that has offside such as rugby it is even more obvious. Once the ball carrier runs with the ball he puts any player that was ahead of the ball in an offside position into an onside position when he move beyond them on the field of play. Those player are then eligible to participate in play when that happens even though at one time they were in an offside position. While offside they cannot participate in the game but once onside that restriction is no longer present.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Neither situation involves an infringement of the offside law.

Offside position is reconsidered every time a teammate touches the ball. Because A11 was even with or behind the ball when A9 last touched it, he is onside. Thus, he is eligible to play the ball.

For offside position, all of the following elements must be present when the teammate touches the ball: (a) player is in opponent's half, (b) is closer to the opponent's goal line than the second last defender AND (c) is closer to the opponent's goal line than the ball.