Question Number: 12371

Law 11 - Offside 3/16/2006

RE: Under 14

Bruce Tattrie of Vancouver, British Columbia Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 12318

A follow-up to Daryl's question 12318...

I have always had a question in my mind about this, and have seen it called both ways as posed in Daryl's original question. I have asked different refs here, and received both the answers Daryl ha.

I note that Decision 2 of the International F.A. Board, appended to Law 11, states (with parts I thought not relevant deleted):

"Interfering with an opponent means ... making a movement which, in the opinion of the referee, ... distracts an opponent."

The full quote is:

"Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent."

So, it seems to me that it is possible, in some of the circumstances described by Daryl, for a CR to reasonably be of the opinion that Attacker B, racing in at the goal in an offside position, is distracting the keeper, thereby interfering with the keeper, thereby involved in active play, and thereby triggering the offside offence.

What am I missing?

Thanks,

Bruce

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

What you're missing is the first line of Law 11. It's not an offence to merely be in offside position. To be adjudged offside, a player must actually do something. Being in a position to obstruct the keeper's line of sight is certainly an example. Yelling at the keeper or preventing an opponent from getting the ball. But, a player in offside position should not be penalized for a keeper's mistake. Just last weekend I had a young AR.. 2 attackers break through the defenders. One attacker in front of ball in offside position. Player with ball never passes it yet up comes my ARs flag. I waved it down and we had a friendly chat at the half.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Bruce,
The closer to the keeper a speeding 20 mile an hour offside attacker is, the more he shows up on the offside radar. However, in order to BUST him the DISTRACTION or gesture must be OBVIOUS that in the opinion of the referee that is what the offside player HAS done TO the defender. If a defender has a clear line of sight and is not prevented from playing said ball the nearness factor best be within a few yards or so indicating a mirroring of movement or a possible collision forthcoming. Go to the FIFA.com site and watch the interactive video there is one where the nearness and ACTIONS of a following OPP(offside positioned player) creates an infringement
Cheers