Question Number: 14946

Law 11 - Offside 3/5/2007

RE: Recreational Adult

Tony Thompson of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

Would you please advise the correct mechanics for the following situation. An attacker A tries to pass the ball to his team-mate B in an offside position but the ball is deflected by a defender (not controlled) into the path of another attacker C who then passes it to the attacker B who now has got into an onside position.

My question is what is the correct mechanics for the AR to signal the offside?

If he raises his flag when the ball is first kicked by attacker A he could be standing there for a few seconds with his flag raised while the deflected ball sorts itself out. If the deflected ball is in fact then intercepted by a defender and kicked up field I guess he lowers his flag and says to himslf "better wait a little longer next time before I flag".

However if the AR waits to see what happens before raising the flag to signal for the original offside he looks like a "goose" as it is clear to everyone that attacker B was onside when the ball was kicked to him by attacker C, even though we officials know play has not been reset so attacker B is still offside.

Should the AR raise his flag as soon as the ball is kicked and perhaps forced to lower it again if the defenders get to the deflected ball or should he wait a few seconds to see what happens and run the risk of "being run out of town"

This question is prompted by a recent question on offside and a deliberate hand ball after the ball was kicked to a team mate in an offside position. The panel said that Offside is judged as soon as the ball is kicked and so no deliberate hand ball foul could be awarded. Based on this I assume the same is true in the situation above - when the ball is kicked?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

No we did not say a deliberate handling foul could not be awarded we said offside criteria are in effect before the deliberate handling so if offside involvement occurs it could relegate the deliberate handling to a second place foul!

Lets see if I can make this CLEAR.
An AR NEVER EVER Raises a flag to indicate an offside INFRINGMENT unless there IS an offside for which play MUST be stopped because all phases and all criteria required have been met!!!

NO AR should ever indicate offside POSITION by raising the flag!

When the ball is kicked (last touched) offside POSITION is established by the teammate not offside infraction as no involvement may have yet occured. A deflected ball does not aleviate the offside position or prevents subsequent offside involvement.

If you read the offside law it states the INDFK occurs from where the position was not from where the involvement eventually occurs. That is what we refer too when we say offside occured before the deliberate handling.

Note we gave TWO options for consideration a referee can accept or not accept the offside information given to him by his AR and award the INDFK and either accept or not accept the deliberate handling for a DFK foul.

This is word for word FIFA Q&A

7. The ball is played to a player in an offside position by a team-mate, but a defending player touches it deliberately with his hand. What action does the referee take?
If, in the opinion of the referee, the player in the offside position
should be penalised for being involved in active play, he will penalise
the offside and restart the match with an indirect free kick *.
However, if in the referee?s opinion, the player should not be penalised for being involved in active play, a direct free kick, or a penalty kick, will be awarded against the player who handled the ball.

It appears to me you can not seperate involvement from the positional aspect of offside.

An offside positioned player benifitting from a deflection gains an advantage!
An offside positioned player by creating the situation the defender is trying to defend against could be interfering with the opponent even without a touch!
An offside positioned player recieving a ball as the only team member likely to do so could be interfering in play even without a touch!

Questions you need to answer
What was the opponent doing?
How close was he to the defender?
Was he the only player likely to recieve that ball?
Was the ball going to him and the deliberate handling was soley to stop that opportunity but failed?

If I follow your situation correctly
When the offside position was established and the deliberate handling occurred if no offside involvement was yet present then you can allow the advantage to continue because no offside positioned teammate :
recieved the ball to interfere in play,
gained an advantage or
interfered with an opponent especially the one who deliberately handled the ball in youropinion as referee /AR
THERE IS NO FLAG !
Once the ball is retouched by the teammate after the deflection NEW offside phase, new reset criteria, no offside position at the time of the new pass(new last touch), thus no offside thus
NO FLAG!

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

When an assistant referee flags for offside he indicates an offside offence has already happened. Too many assistants flagged because an offence was probably going to happen. The assistant is to wait until the offence happens and offside is a two part offence, position and involvement. When the ball was first hit through there was no involvement, just position.

Back we go to the first sentence of Law 11: It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

While the deflection off the defender doesn't negate the offside, the subsequent touch by C does. B should be whistled (and flagged) for offside only if he was involved in play between the touches of A and C. Once C touches it, we start all offside considerations anew.

B might have been doing something to interfere with an opponent, and if so would be liable for offside - but your description didn't say that. He obviously didn't get involved in play by touching or playing the ball. And he didn't gain an advantage when the ball rebounded to him off an opponent or goal. None of the 3 requirements for being involved having occured, B is not offside.