Question Number: 35370

Law 11 - Offside 3/7/2024

RE: Rec Under 16

Fred of Hollywood, Florida United States asks...

I need your guidance. This happened recently and I am at a loss as to how to understand it from a LOTG perspective. The GK from Team A punts the ball to his teammate (A10) who was near the mid field. At the moment A10 touched the ball, a player from the opposing team (B9) was in an offside position. A10 controls the ball and kicks it forward. However, after the kick, for some strange reason, the ball went high up in the air and spun backwards instead of moving forward, landing on the feet of B9, who then ran with it, dribbled the GK and scored. The AR raised his flag, calling for an offside infraction but the center ref allowed the goal to stand. When I asked the ref to explain his reasoning, he said that the ball never ricocheted or deflected off A10 but that it was a deliberate pass which just happened to go the wrong way as the ball spun up in the air. Since it was a deliberate kick, B9 did not commit an offside offense when he touched the ball and scored. Do you agree with the ref's decision?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Fred
we are glad to be of assistance
So as I understand it,
TEAM A has ball thus TEAM B is NOT liable for ANY offside situation as no TEAM B teammate is touching the ball at all

EXCEPT the TEAM B9 player who scored from the error by TEAM A10 .

Not sure why the referee thought to include anything player A10 did or B9 as relevant because no offside position was established as restricted given TEAM A had last played the ball with control aka the keeper .

It is NOT an offence to be in an offside position .

TEAM A had the ball go from their keeper then to playerA10 so no positional determination for B9 plays any importance as he received a gift from TEAM A, accidental or deliberate mattered not.

The simple fact was no TEAM MATE of B was involved to cause an issue thus B9 was always free to pursue and play the ball.

TEAM A keeper has Ball thus last touched by TEAM A Keeper passes/kicks to team A 10 who creates an error ANY TEAM B player not just B9 was free to play that ball NO matter their position.

The AR likely reacted to the POSITION of B9 unaware the ball last came off being touched played by TEAM A players .
The CR would be 100% correct to wave off the flag .

As a coach I recommend, ALWAYS train your players to NEVER stop playing until the WHISTLE sounds! The AR flag is a signal ONLY to the referee, it means NOTHING to the players except a false hope when beaten. Defenders who stop and raise the hand asking to go to the washroom is a useless gesture.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Fred
Thanks for the question.
As described here the referee was 100% correct in awarding the goal. It was an error by the assistant to flag for offside.
From reading your description no attacking player ever played the ball so offside could NOT even be a consideration as B9 received the ball from Team A not from a player on Team B or from a deflection / rebound.

This can and does happen a lot in games where say a player tries to play the ball back to a goalkeeper/ team mate and it is intercepted by a player in an offside position. There is absolutely NO offside offence in those situations.

The reason behind that is a player CANNOT be called offside when the ball has been deliberately played by an opponent to a PIOP. If the ball was played by a team mate of the PIOP it could be offside off a deflection / rebound by an opponent or if the PIOP has interfered with the opponent in a manner set out in Law 11 which are

# preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or
# challenging an opponent for the ball or
# clearly attempting to play a ball which is close when this action impacts on an opponent or
# making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball or
# gaining an advantage by playing the ball or interfering with an opponent when it has:
** rebounded or been deflected off the goalpost, crossbar, match official or an opponent
** been deliberately saved by any opponent

From your description the ball was only ever played by Team A so none of those conditions were relevant. It was simply a playing error by Team A. Team A played the ball to B9 who just happened to be in an offside position yet that is NEVER an offside offence.
Had the ball been punted by say the goalkeeper in Team B or played by another player in Team B it might be considered offside if A10 only deflected the ball to B9 rather than deliberately playing it or B9 interfered with A10 as he played it or attempted to play it as set out above.
If it was considered a deliberate play by A10 it would not be offside either.

So for me the AR simply reacted to the position of B9 and failed to identify who last played the ball to that player. The referee clearly did see that it was A10 so no possible offside.
Have a look at this video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0IhCC171IcY
The ball was last deliberately headed by Blue to the PIOP so there could not be any offside.