Question Number: 35889

Law 11 - Offside 2/25/2025

RE: Competitive Adult

Peter Babbage of Hjorring, Denmark asks...

Really two questions in one if that’s ok! It concerns offside. Ball played through and it clips a defender. He hasn’t tried to play it but does this play the attacker onside? I know it does if he tries to clear the ball .
A ball is played through and I think a forward is deemed offside if any part of the body he can score with is offside. However what part of the body is taken into account. for the defender. For instance a forwards boot is behind the line of the defenders arm ( if that makes sense

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Peter
Thanks for the question.
Lets take the easy part first. Only the parts pf the body that can legally play the ball are taken into consideration for offside. That applies to both forwards and defenders.
The hands and arms of all players, including the goalkeepers, are not considered. For the purposes of determining offside, the upper boundary of the arm is in line with the bottom of the armpit as under Law 12 the upper shoulder can legally play the ball. More often ot is the outstretched leg that gets considered in determining offside.

Now to the more subjective part of your question.
Law 11 tells us and I quote
** A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately played* the ball, including by deliberate handball, is not considered to have gained an advantage, unless it was a deliberate save by any opponent. *‘Deliberate play’ (excluding deliberate handball) is when a player has control of the ball with the possibility of: # passing the ball to a team-mate # gaining possession of the ball or
# clearing the ball (e.g. by kicking or heading it)**

The following criteria should be used, as appropriate, as indicators that a player was in control of the ball and, as a result, can be considered to have ‘deliberately played’ the ball:
# The ball travelled from distance and the player had a clear view of it
# The ball was not moving quickly
# The direction of the ball was not unexpected
# The player had time to coordinate their body movement, i.e. it was not a case of instinctive stretching or jumping, or a movement that achieved limited contact/control
# A ball moving on the ground is easier to play than a ball in the air.

In your example the use of the word *clips* does not suggest a deliberate play so there is NO reset. It is likely to be a rebound or a deflection which is NOT a reset of offside which includes a save. Any player can save the ball and the definition is set out in the Law book.
The tricky one can be a header where a defender plays the ball yet fails to make good contact on the ball to change it direction or trajectory. I saw an education video where a defender was shown to head the ball which glanced off the top of his head while jumping and it raised the trajectory of the ball going towards players in offside positions and it was deemed a reset.
Its really a judgement call for a referee to decide of the ball is deliberately played or not. Just because a defender is inaccurate or unsuccessful does not negate the fact that the player ‘deliberately played’ the ball.


.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Peter,

A defender's touch only cancels out offside if they've played the ball. This could loosely be defined as a deliberate motion towards they ball and they had reasonable chance for control of the ball, considering the age/skill, as well as relative direction/speed of the ball (that is, difficulty of control), and how far away it was kicked (or if the view was blocked, how long they had it in view for), whether they're running and lunging for it (making it dificult to control), all those things.

So offside would still be considered if the ball deflects off a defender who hasn't played it.

As for the body part - any scoring part counts for both attack and defence. That is to say, we don't count either of their arms.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Peter
the interesting aspect of a defender's ball to hand or hand to ball, if it is a deflection it changes nothing, if it is deliberate than that takes away offside and you can play advantage or if the ball entered the goal off the defenders arm that would be a legit goal but not if it was an attacker be he onside or offside! The word "clips implies a deflection but as in all cases the referee will see what they see in real time from where ever line of sight they have. It is in the POSITION aspect where arms are not involved to determine if a restriction will be put in place (the imaginary line) when there is INVOLVEMENT, the arms of the defender does not play a part, as it is the action of the player themselves but if the ball strikes the arm of the PIOP attacker that is physical contact (interfering with play)and the ball is considered to be played with a new touch, accidental or not.
Cheers