Question Number: 28468

Law 11 - Offside 5/31/2014

RE: Competitive Other

Howard Webb of bay area, ca usa asks...

I have 2 questions

1. Striker is in offside position over halfway line when his goalkeeper punts the ball. Striker then comes back onto own half of field to play the punted ball. Is he considered offside for originally being in offside position, or onside because he played it in his own half?

2. A player passes the ball back to his keeper in a routine play. However, say the player kicks the ball too fast at his keeper and the keeper puts his hands up to protect his face, and the ball would have gone in if the keeper didn't handle the ball. Or maybe a player passes back to his keeper, and the keeper loses control with his feet, and to prevent it from going into the goal, dives backwards and grabs it on the goal line with his hands, where it would have gone in had he not done that. Would either of these be considered just a traditional IFK for a keeper handling a teammate's pass, or would they be a penalty kick and sendoff for DGSO-Handling?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

1. Offside position is considered at the moment the ball was kicked, and you cannot put yourself back 'onside'. So given he was in an offside position at the moment the ball was kicked he cannot interfere with play. So if he runs back into his own half to touch the ball, he is to be penalised.

2. The Additional Advice, in the back of the Laws, states that the goalkeeper cannot be guilty of any handling-related misconduct inside his own penalty area. So an IFK is all you can award.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
1. This is offside and it will be called when he interferes with play. The IDFK will be taken in the location the offside player was positioned when the ball was played by the goalkeeper.

2. As Referee Wright states the only sanction here is an IDFK. A goalkeeper cannot be guilty of misconduct by touching the ball with his hands in the penalty area.