Question Number: 35922

Law 11 - Offside 5/31/2025

RE: U16 Under 15

Edgar of Los Angeles, CA Usa asks...

An attacker receives the ball in an offiside position from the defender whose attempt to direct the ball away from the oncoming attack was not successful. Something like an attacker kicks the ball downfield in an attempt to pass to the offside attacker, the defender heads the ball but it does not go where they wanted it to but instead goes to the offside attacker.

Offsides? I would think it was deliberate play on the part of the defender so that means not offsides or is a badly played header a deflection?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Edgar
Thanks for the question.
As described this is not offside as the header by the defender was described as a deliberate play and therefore that is a reset of offside.
Law 11 tells us that 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 the case of 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.

So as you can see there is an element of judgement to be made by the referee in the decision.
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

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

i Edgar,

You are correct. It is not offsides because the ball was deliberately played by the defender.

This is also the rule in high school play as confirmed by NFHS Rule 11- 1-5 which states: "A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent who deliberately plays the ball (except in a deliberate save) is not considered to have gained an advantage"

To be offsides a player must gain an advantage by being in the offsides position is indicated in NFHS Rule 11-1-4b.

Thank you for this question

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Edgar,
I want to make a small distinction between deliberately playing the ball and trying to play the ball. An instinctive reaction to a close moving fast moving object may not result in a very good outcome anymore than being unaware of a close moving fast moving object that deflects or ricochets off you through no fault of your own.
A referee's opinion as to whether a player makes a deliberate effort to play the ball and just makes a mistake, well we don't reward mistakes, but we also try not to gift unwarranted opportunities to the opposition on doubtful decisions.

An attacker tries to loft a ball over top of a defender to an offside teammate in behind the defender. The defender might not even be aware and his one goal is to deny the pass so he leaps as high as he can and the ball barely skims his head and yet the ball still makes its way to the offside opponent the pass was intended for?
One referee might opine that the defender made a deliberate play on the ball and thus it reset the restricted status of the PIOP and play continues! But if that ball was three feet in the air the best this player ever ever jumped in his life was 2 feet eleven and three quarter inches the opportunity for his head to deliberately play the ball way from trouble or control it in any manner was very much in doubt he reacted instinctively to a ball arcing over his head trying to stop it from going in behind him. Possibly another player was going up for the ball as well and maybe bumped him slightly/
I have no issues calling that a deflection rather than a deliberate attempt to play the ball based on the timing, height, speed, all the factors that my colleagues have mentioned might have factored into my decision. Deliberately playing the ball doesn't necessarily mean you played it with a great deal of control but it should factor whether you had an ability to really be able to play it at all.
Cheers