Question Number: 28497

Law 11 - Offside 6/13/2014

RE: competitive High School

Bean of Mcminnville, Oregon United States asks...

Greetings!

Please explain / analyze the offside call on the corner kick today that disallowed Mexico's goal against Cameroon. We all know that according to Law 11,

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

¢ a goal kick
¢ a throw-in
¢ a corner kick'

The controversy in this instance appears to result from the fact that a defending Cameroon player touched the ball immediately prior to the attacking Mexican player heading it in for a goal.

In the case of a corner kick, is the touch by defender relevant for determining offside?

Signed,

Perplexed in Oregon

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Bean,

Your understanding of the laws is correct. From the 3 restarts you listed, it requires an attacking touch after the touch that puts the ball into play before we can start considering offside. Can't be a defensive touch.

When the ball was kicked, 2 players went up for the header. A defender headed the ball and it deflected to an attacker.

I can only assume that the AR actually thought it was an attacking header, not a defensive one (it can be difficult to tell sometimes), which is why the flag went up.

In terms of mechanics, if the referee has any doubt regarding the accuracy of the decision he should definitely discuss it with the AR.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
The AR in this game got the decision wrong and the touch by the Cameroon player is not counted in the 'directly' calculation. I believe the AR incorrectly determined that the ball was headed on by a team mate of the scorer in which case if the scorer who may have been in an offside position would be called offside.
This will have been discussed at the referee debriefing and by the match observer and as it was a serious error it will result in a significant reduction in the AR's assessment score.
What it does show to me is that referees place all the responsibility on the AR to get the offside call right. As a referee I'm looking for who last touched the ball here to decide goal kick or corner. Did the referee see who touched the ball from the corner? If it was a defender then it could not be offside and it should have been an overrule. I also think that with communication equipment the AR should have asked for clarification of the contact in the header in the goal area.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Like Ref Wright, I suspect that the assistant referee believed the ball was deflected by a Mexican player. At the time of the deflection, the goal scorer was in offside position IF it was touched by a teammate. But, as the TV angles proved, it was deflected by a Cameroon player. That would not affect an analysis of offside position.

A better mechanic, IMO, would be for the AR to stand at attention after the goal and use his electronic communication system to ask the referee who headed the ball. The referee has a much better angle on that decision (as the AR has the best angle on offside position). If the referee knows it came off a defender, he allows the goal. It gives the team a bit of time to get the decision right. IMO, a flag in the air really makes it difficult for the referee to allow the goal.

Referees are reminded that when in doubt, the flag stays down.