Question Number: 17263

Law 11 - Offside 10/12/2007

RE: High School

Greg Martin of Hopkinsville, ky USA asks...

In a high school district game, player on Team A is clearly in an offside position at the edge of the middle third of the field when ball is played long. AR signals offside. Center, though no one noticed him saying playon, says he was playing advantage and was allowing keeper to field ball at least 20 yards from offside spot. Keeper as well as other players thought there was a stoppage, he fielded the ball and rolled it to the spot of the foul (I understand they shouldn't have stopped until the whistle). Player on Team A takes ball and scores. Center explained to coach that it was more "advantageous" to allow keeper to field ball than to have a free kick 10 yards from the 18. AR and Center conferred and goal stood. Since the result of the play was not to the offended team's advantage, should Center have disallowed goal and issued free kick from spot of foul? Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position. The assistant referee's signal is advisory in nature and not a stoppage in play. The referee has an obligation to act on the assistant's advice by doing one of three things: stop play; allow advantage; dismiss the advice by waving down the flag. It is interesting the referee chose to play advantage instead of believing there was no offence committed and waving off the advice.

As to the goalkeeper choosing to act as a referee and stop playing on his own -- this is not something he should get involved in.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Normally, advantage isn't something used for offside violations. If the ball appears to be headed to the keeper, the referee can waive off the AR's flag, and allow the GK to collect and redistribute the ball - deeming the offside in this case as trifling. However, the moment it appears the GK is confused by what is going on, he should go ahead and award the offside and restart accordingly. Offside is not a foul - it has a Law and a HS rule all its own. If one is deemed to be offside, the offense is punished with an IDFK for the defending team. Note to coach: remind your players to always play the whistle - no whistle, no stoppage.

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

This unfortunately is a case where the law has been correctly applied, in an incorrect manner. The referee has, by their actions, or in this case, lack of action to be aware enough to realize there is confusion, contributed to the confusion of the players. This will clearly call into question the credibility of the referee and reduces the enjoyment of the players and spectators because of the referee's interference -- by way of inaction. If the referee wants to allow the play to continue, rather than stop it for the offside infringement, they must take into account the skill and experience level of the players. If his situational awareness was where it needed to be, he would have bellowed out "keeper, you have it....take your punt" or something akin to that so that everyone knew, without doubt what was going on. While it is true that no whistle was sounded, and the myth of AR flag up must mean stop play abounds, the referee could have and should have done much more to help keep things simple. Once it was apparent that the goal keeper was confused, he should have immediately stopped play and awarded the IFK for the offside infringement.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Greg,
no one noticed?? what mechanics were involved?
The goal while certainly defensible as correct has a slight odor

ADVANTAGE, major sweep of the arms, Play On!
Pregame should dictate the necessity of when and how to wave off a flag . The AR should know NOT to raise a flag until 100% sure play is to be stopped for the offside infringement. If the referee feels the flag popped too soon and the keeper is not likely to be crashed into we can accept that no intrusion of offside had truly occurred and that is was advantageous rather than application of advantage to keep things rolling!

In the EPL I have seen a classic advantage arm wave signal and play on, on a very few occasions where offside was possible. Personally I think the referee must attempt to dispel the flag rather than say too bad I never whistled. In my opinion it is NOT sufficient to say play on and consider that as advantage without an arm sweep and a loud cry of advantage must precede it to let them know this is how you view it and what you are allowing as a course of action.

If you are waving off the flag, allowing the keeper to maintain control and want play to continue indicate to the keeper in no uncertain terms,
NO offside keep playing!

Officials are neutral and must seek to act accordingly. While we can point to the whistle and say, ?Did you hear me blow this??, in our defense it sets a poor taste in the mouth to watch a goal result out of nothing but bad vibes.

Offside as a needed physical touch or as the only player to reasonably be able to get to the ball does lend to misunderstanding no matter our efforts to the contrary.
I consider this event similar to a spectator blowing a whistle and it interferes with the players actions in that if there truly was an offside where it could have been called go with it. Perhaps warn the keeper if you do not hear a whistle I have not stopped play.

I grant you the keeper should not have used the flag as a reason to think the call was made but it does put that thought there and if players from both teams were ok with the offside then using the keeper's action as an ah ha lesson is rather harsh in my opinion.
I will say that nothing in law makes the goal scored illegal but the spirit is tarnished slightly.
I would be less inclined to be annoyed if the game signals that we were not stopping were clearer.
Cheers