Question Number: 35926

Law 11 - Offside 6/11/2025

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

Hello

I'm back because it's necessary to return to an old question:-)

Law change:
When the goalkeeper throws the ball, the last point of contact should be used for the purpose of determining an offside position.

My favorite scenario :-)

The attacker puts the ball on the instep in time 35:42. The ball sits on his instep until time 35:44. In time 35:44 he starts a passing motion and the ball leaves his foot at 35:45. Is the crucial point at 35:44 or 35:45?

Previously, it was a point that gives momentum. So the time was 35:44. And now it's 35:45 for the goalkeeper. The rules don't say anything about the attacker, but I also prefer the time 35:45 (in this exceptional scenario). How do you see it?

Thank you very much!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Petr
Thanks for the follow up .
As you point out there has been a change in Law 11 where it now states
** The first point of contact of the ‘play’ or ‘touch’ of the ball should be used however, when the ball is thrown by the goalkeeper, the last point of contact should be used.**

Essentially this is in my opinion to assist with VAR assessments where freeze frame is used to determine locations of players in an offside position. For the vast majority in the game it is not really that precise as ARs make a determination based on the what is seen or for that matter assisted with what is heard such as the sound of a kick.

If we look at actual timings in these situations it is fractions of a second rather that say two seconds hence the need to be precise with the freeze frame. So when we view the freeze frame used by VAR we always see the foot on the ball at the moment of the kick which in your example is 35.44 not after the ball has left the foot.
In the goalkeeper situation the ball should have left the hand

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Petr,

For an outfield player, the law has not changed - it is still the first point of contact that counts.

It is only for goalkeepers that things have changed. While the scenario you describe for an outfield player would be quite rare in my opinion, it is very common for a goalkeeper to have the ball lying on their hand for an extended period of time before they actually throw it.

So for a goalkeeper, I think it makes a lot of sense to count the point at which the ball leaves the hand, rather than the point of first contact.

When an outfield player kicks the ball however, it is (in the overwhelming majority of cases) a single, swift action so I think it is more appropriate in that scenario, to use the first point of contact.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Petr,
Although time is relative it's rarely to the microsecond. The ability for the human eye to see comprehend and make a decision on something that's occurring in real time -Was- always suspect. In order to evaluate off the side we have to see it and occasionally have to hear it but we all must agree in how we must recognize when to apply the criteria “at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate.” the players are very tricky when they figure out ways to utilize the laws to their advantage Football’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board. (Ifab), has amended the text of the offside law to clarify at which point an offside assessment should be made. The change comes after interventions from Torns IF, a club from the small town of Stångby near Malmö, who wondered whether a player could get around the offside law by keeping the ball balanced in the crook of their foot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kF5Skmb6p1o

The updated wording now clarifies that the “first point of contact” when a player plays or touches the ball is the moment used to judge offside. So if a player traps the ball and delays the pass (like in the Torns IF scenario), the offside line is still judged from the initial touch, not when the ball finally leaves their foot. It’s a small tweak with big implications and it all started with a clever Swedish club asking a smart question. This closes the loophole where a player could technically “freeze” the offside moment by holding the ball in place: something that could’ve been exploited in high-level matches.

The reason why this matters is probably because of the technical application of how VAR works
Gives VAR officials a clearer timestamp to freeze the frame.
Prevents manipulation of the offside line using ball control tricks.
Reinforces fairness by aligning the rule with the spirit of the game.

You may recall the old golden rule for ARs was (When in doubt don't wave it about!) referring to the flag. The reasoning was NOT just because too early flagging kills attacking play and it is best to wait for an outcome. It was because incorrectly raised flags as to the actual positioning determination we were awarding indirect free kicks but there was no actual offence.

Our senses to see, hear and respond to stimulus with an action takes some thinking time and in that time movement occurs! The ability to gauge 20 mile an hour runs with defenders and attackers moving in opposing directions with a ball moving at 60 miles an hour? Keeping track of the positioning of the second last opponent and key players in a freeze frame split second moment on the field? Just to make it slightly harder I suppose we could up that too say a 23 miles an hour for a Kylian Mbappé human versus a 131 mph Ronnie Hebersen kicked ball?

How fast do you think the head would have to swivel to be able to correlate all that at the same time? Then once armed with information there are restricted players on the field who cannot touch the ball. Only later be forced to decide if they become involved or not, before there was a reset, that would lift any restriction.

It was an easy distinction to clarify that a player rebounding/deflecting or kicking/heading a ball is a split second incident of compression whereas the keeper has the option of hanging onto the ball once it's inside the penalty area and thus may release it at a later time. Especially when he's throwing it with hands. As my colleague referee Grove suggest a single swift action versus the lingering one running about the PA looking to throw or kick the ball at SOME point. Smart intelligent players are good at using the laws of the game for their tactical purposes once they realize what they can or cannot get away with.
Cheers

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 35933