Question Number: 28551

Law 11 - Offside 6/25/2014

RE: rec Adult

Matt of Whitehorse, YT CAN asks...

Referencing offside:

Player with the ball strikes the ball towards the opposing goal as a pass, two attackers which at the point the ball is struck are both behind the last defender, and both rush forward once the ball is struck, both passing the last defender. At the point one of the attackers touches the ball both attackers are past the last defender after their sprint towards the goal (basically 2 person 'breakaway')
the attacker with the ball passes it to the second who shoots and scores.

Is this offside?


Thanks for your help.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Offside position is reevaluated each time the ball is touched/played by a a teammate. The attackers are OK to run forward after the ball has been kicked, because they were onside at the time of the kick.

Now at the time of the cross/pass, the offside picture has to be evaluated again. Remember that it's not just the position of the opponents, but also the ball, that determines offside position. If the player receiving the ball was behind the ball at the time of the pass, there is no offside.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Matt
Once the shot is taken if the two attackers are in an onside position then there cannot be any offside. Offside position is determined at the moment of the play / shot by the team mate. In the scenario you describe there is no offside from the first shot / pass as both teammates were in an onside position. However the two attackers who have now ran ahead of the 2nd last defender must also consider that one of them can still be in an offside position if he gets ahead of the ball in which case he cannot participate in play. So let's say that the attacker passes the ball to the second who is ahead of the ball at that moment that will be called offside.

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