Question Number: 15284

Mechanics 4/25/2007

RE: Under 18

Jeff Mujagic of Brisbane , Queensland Australia asks...

I am just writing to ask what you guys think.
Here i Australia, we have Soccer and Football ( your Gridiron). The referee's who officiate those games have the authority to verbally tell the player when they are offisde to keep the game flowing. A simple " number 9 your off, get onside" would be satisfactory.
Now to my question, do you belive this would be beneficial in our game? Giving the linesman/woman the authority to yell, "Number 15 your off, stay on" to keep the game flowing?
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Sorry Jeff, don't like this idea at all. Offside position changes so quickly you could give misinformation and it's not an offence to be in the offside position so what's the point? Besides, it's NOT the referee's job to tell players they are off or on. The players should do this themselves.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I haven't seen "Aussie Rules" football, but I understand it's similar to our NFL and college games. In the NFL, a player is offsides if he crosses the line of scrimmage (the ball placement) prior to the play starting.

That's a lot different in soccer. Offside position is a dynamic changing situation, and no offense occurs until the offside-positioned player participates in play. Sometimes players will deliberately go into offside positions. Trying to warn a player becomes almost impossible. What if the AR misses it? What if the player can't hear it because of the crowd? She'd be pretty upset when you made the offside call against her, but didn't the opponent got warned.

And how do you think the defense would react when they're running an offside trap, and the AR calls out, "Hey #9, they put you offside!"

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

This is better left to your mates and technical staff. I prefer the referee to referee, the technical staff to give tactical instruction and the players to play. When tasks cross there is nothing but trouble.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

That would be difficult to do. Players change positions a lot during dynamic play and as a result, the judgement of whether or not a player is an offside position changes too. This would be too much to ask of an assistant.