Question Number: 35839

Law 11 - Offside 12/16/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

This question is a follow up to question 35837

One more simple situation from the weekend round of our league.

An attacker in an offside position runs for a pass. The goalkeeper also runs to the ball. The goalkeeper kicks the ball out of bounds. The attacker is about two meters away from the ball at that moment. The assistant referee raises the flag.

According to the rules, could the attacker be guilty of something other than being alone (as we discussed in the previous question)?

I can think of two parts of the rules - challenging an opponent for the ball OR making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.

But it was two meters, maybe three. :-)

Thank you very much!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Petr
Law 11 states that it is an offence for a player in an offside position to interfere with an opponent and four conditions are set out, two of which you listed.

# 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.

What you describe will not fit the first two conditions so we are left with the last two to consider.
It is a judgement call for an assistant to make and it probably will have looked like the PIOPs action prevented the goalkeeper from clearing the ball in a normal controlled manner rather than a rushed kick out of play which I believe would fit the last condition and therefore offside.

If the attacker was in an onside position the question does not arise and the restart is a throw in.