Question Number: 35930

Law 11 - Offside 6/12/2025

RE: Rec Adult

Bob Williamson of Mesa, AZ United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 35927

Thanks for the quick response. I was thinking only one direction. I have actually called that foul and the crowd went crazy.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Bob,
The LOTG pertaining to offside are sometimes tough for the general population to understand but once the restriction is in place from the offside positioning there has to be a new reset or phase of play that completely takes away that Positional (no touch/interfere restriction) the first part of the equation. as my colleagues initially explained, the laws of the game were changed to allow the indirect free kick to occur from where the actual involvement, where the second part of the equation occurs, in keeping with how all other fouls or infractions are dealt with.

One of the things about indirect free kicks for offside they are not thought of as a blade of grass restart! Where the importance of the actual location where the ball is set could play a huge part in the outcome. In the old days and even now, I see indirect free kicks being taken 20 yards away from where the actual infraction occurred. Not usually a big deal because an offside indirect free kick it's just to get the ball back into play The opposition rarely attacks indirect free kicks way back in the defending 3rd and no one is trying to score goal from there. However, the new guidelines allowing an indirect free kick restart threat to take place in the actual half of the player who commits the involvement offence has created the need to pay closer attention to that ball placement.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Bob
Thanks for the follow up.

I was watching an Underage game recently at a small field with offside being applied. From a goal kick the ball went directly to an attacker some 4/5 yards in an offside position.
The newly qualified referee called the offside and there was not a murmur from either side about the call. No understanding that it could not be offside from a goal kick which is an outlier of a call.
I suspect that had it not been called there would have been a furore about the no call. In the scheme of things the offside was not a big ticket item in an Underage game.

I think it is now one of the reasons why at high level games referees can use a speaker to convey the reason for the call much like American Football. A sort of education for those watching.

Offside is now in my opinion a dated concept in the game. Instead the game should be looking to find ways to open up play rather than allowing the compression maybe of 20 players in front of the penalty area with no playing channels and double and treble marking.
It is why limited teams can now get results by using the *park the bus* tactic with offside being one of the key conditions for that to happen.

The final point I would make is that as a lone official I used the doubtful and trifling concept to make the best decision for the game. Perhaps in a situation where there is no appeal, the offence has little bearing on a game I might let it slide.
I also feel that playing the ball in an onside position was one of those situations where Law11 offside could be relaxed as the benefit is limited with little if any change in the defensive structure and set up.

In our National game Gaelic Football the law makers have introduced a law which requires that at least three outfield player excluding the goalkeeper must be maintained in each half. It is an effort to open up play and to prevent teams bringing every player back into the last third to create a blanket defence much like soccer. So far the experiment appears to be working with more open play. BTW it is a game that does not have offside.