Question Number: 28670

Law 11 - Offside 8/18/2014

RE: Competitive Adult

Ellis of Timaru, New Zealand asks...

I have a question about the offside rule.

My team has been repeatedly pulled up for offside due to a law change I am unaware of happening.

Say I am a striker who is in an offside position and my midfielder is in possession of the ball. If I come back to an onside position before the ball through to me is played, can I still be pulled up for offside because of my lurking about offside prior to the ball being played?

As far as I am aware, if you are in an onside position when the ball is played to you, you can't be penalised? Am I correct, or are there certain variables I'm unaware of?

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Ellis,

Your understanding is correct. So, if you're repeatedly being pulled up for it, then either you're not actually getting back 'onside' (or you're not doing it before the ball is played) - possible if you're trying to play it really close - or the officials are getting it wrong (also more likely if you're playing a close line).

All that matters is where the player (yourself) is at the moment the ball is last touched by a teammate.

If, on the other hand, you're in an offside position when the ball is passed to you and you run onside before receiving it, that's offside - but not if you run back onside before the ball is played.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ellis
There has been no Law change in what you describe here and your interpretation is correct. The issue here is one of timing. If an attacker is in an onside position the moment the ball is played / touched by a teammate then there is no offside no matter if he had been in an offside position previously.
Now the challenge for the assistant referee is determining the position of an attacker at that exact time and implementing Law 11. If the player in an offside position is slow to get onside then it makes no difference where that player touches the ball if he was still in an offside position the moment the ball was played by a teammate. That can be a tight call. The same would apply to the situation of the out rushing defenders. The positions have to be determined the moment the ball is played
Have a look at these tests to see how difficult that is.
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/scottish_football.cfm?page=3156
Now when the player start in an offside position that places an extra challenge on the AR in getting the timing and the call right. IMO starting in an offside position straight away puts an AR on alert. Couple that with shouts of offside from the defending team it can be likely that an inexperienced AR might not take a risk and the flag is raised. that though does not happen regularly
As a coaching point I would advise that if a team is constantly getting called offside then it needs to look closely at its positioning and running lines. It is too easy to blame the ARs as the cause. I constantly see poor movement by players and schoolboy errors in offside. I also hear loads of complaints about incorrect offside calls even on stonewall ones. I stood beside a left back some 20 yards from half way and he was questioning an offside call some 50 yards from him on the far side of the field!! Players and their team mates many times think they are onside when from a side one view it is plainly not the case.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Ellis,
as you describe the situation there appears to be no reason for you to be considered as offside if in fact you are not offside positioned when your team mate passes the ball to you. EVERY SINGLE TOUCH of the ball by ANY team mate RESETS your offside position status to a YES you are or NO you are not. There is no gray area of, well once you were or you might in the future. It is a CLEAR BLACK & WHITE , YES/NO decision.
So there are no variables in law, unfortunately the variables lies with human senses and inability to correlate the instant freeze frame of position with the constant movement of all the players and the ball from whatever angle of view afforded at that precise moment in time! As my colleagues so aptly point out getting the correct timing of events to match up . The ability to see clearly by those who judge you as well as not be too early or too late in your own choice of movement !

As a coaching tactic I always try to get my strikers to play up tight and off the sweeper or defenders but to run across the field at the furthest touchline defender and use him as their benchmark, then turn out and down once the through ball is struck by their team mate. If that guy across from you is closer to his goal line and you match his movements if he steps up you self correct your position. If you try to time straight runs past moving defenders it is very difficult not to find yourself on their backside's thus offside positioned by their simple stepping up in the opposite direction. Hard to make good runs if you have to back up first to start again. Try diagonal/horizontal runs across the field and switch sides with your partnered striker while running at the far defender, mirroring his advances by a slight deviation to your run line, much easier to avoid offside traps in my opinion.
Cheers