Question Number: 19318

Law 11 - Offside 6/9/2008

RE: Grade One Adult

Liam Mc Guirk of Dublin, Rep Of Ireland asks...

I am watching the Holland v Italy Euro 08 game and Van Nistelroy has just scored a goal when he was clearly in an offside position which would of been impossible for the asst referee not to see, this goal has caused great debate on the t v both here in Ireland and in England which has led our national station to contact two UEFA officals who have both given their explaination for the goal.The build up too the goal, a free had been awarded from the resulting kick the ball was played to the back post were the italian keeper collided heavily with his own player catching him on the head and knocking him out of play where he could be clearly seen holding his head on the ground and not concerned with the game, the ball broke to a dutch player who took a shot which fell to Van Nistelroy who was as i said at least two feet offside but the linesman did not flag him and he scored,now for the UEFA officals reason for allowing the goal, as the italian player had left the pitch of his own accord he is deemed active therefore the goal stands,but the 20million people watching the game clearly seen the italian being knocked of the pitch from the collision with his keeper and he was clearly hurt therefore he did not leave the pitch on his own accord therefore he is not active and was not in a position to get back onto the pitch,a player leaving the pitch without permission can be cautioned so why no caution if this is really what the linesman thought,as a referee i strive to make the right decisions and i feel the linesman tonight has made a huge error, i hope i have explained the incident clearly enough for your panel to give their view

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Liam, how hurt was the player????
Did the referee STOP play???
Would you have stopped play for that injury??
Would your conscience be soothed if he was laying on the goal line or at the edge of the six yard area?
Why the fact he MIGHT be hurt so important?
Lots of players lie about on the pitch as play continues??
Are you ok if that player was at centre lying there and a goal was scored?
How can a referee be certain that a defender was not off the field in hopes to delay or create a false impression? It specificaly addresses that concern in additional instructions as potetial USB.

If the Dutch felt the goal was against the spirit of FAIR PLAY they could astand aside and allow the Italians to score unimpeded.
I note they did not! Do you think the Italians would if the situation reversed?

The keeper ran into his own player who through his own momentum fell over the goal line during active play. When you leave the field during active play in behind the goal line you are considered for offside purposes to be ON the goal line. I can see your concern if this player was hurt so badly that play must be stppped but as to being on the goal line or off the field just in behind what difference does it make, he was where he was?

Players off the field due to an injury which is what the crying is about should it be a treatable one where he would be asked to leave and granted the right to be off the field hence NOT part of the offside determination. This was active play and while certainly an unlucky break for Italy it is what it is, a player off the field through natural play not after a stoppage, not at the request or with the permission of the referee .

Obviously, in his opinion the injury was not serious as the referee chose not to stop play . The Italian player picked himself up after the goal! It is a possibility that players will step out or fake injury to deceive but I grant you there was no hint of USB on the part of the Italian defender the collision simply left him a bit groggy or winded at a bad time in the match.

It was certainly tactically devastating for the rest of the Italian defenders not to be AWARE that one of their own could not be stepping up pushing for an offside trap. RVN was NOT OFFSIDE by the laws of the game he had two opponents between him and the goal, the keeper and the Italian player laying on the ground who is deemed to be on the goal line and the goal is good.

You can question whether you as referee would STOP the match because of the injury but the AR saw two opponents as he should have and it would be the referee 's decision to decide if he had granted the ITALIAN permission to leave the field AFTER THE FACT and that decision is one the Dutch fans and players would want to question as well possibly your superiors as well.

These guys referee at that level for a reason and as this will generate discussion we shall see if they come out with a statement. I was surprised at the level of trifling and trivial applied to the nondecisions of several fouls especially the trip on RVN at the edge of the area, very clearly he was fouled but I can not say I did not enjoy the game and feel happy the officiating crew did not negatively affect it.

Just for you direct from FIFA referee development committe
QUOTE
the goal was "100% correct, without any doubt", quoting article 11.4.1. of the refereeing code that states "an opposing player cannot be offside when one of the last two defenders has left the field of play" - as in the case of Panucci" end quote
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jon Sommer

I have very little to add to that very comprehensive answer other than...Congratulations to a very good assistant referee who made a very good decision. His flag stays down as the referee did not deem the Italian player to be injured enough to stop the game, as he proved he wasn't Spot on, well don't to the 2 men involved...this is, after all, why they have their elite badges

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The player was NOT deemed seriously injured as play was not stopped. Therefore, the player off the field of play is considered ON the goal line keeping the shooter onside. Thank you for the very detailed description. Everyone else just said there was a player off the field of play. I can see some reasoning by your question but the facts now seem that the player was not, in the opinion of the referee, seriously injured so the AR has to count the off the field player as being on the goal line. When there is doubt to a call, you are usually going to be correct by simply assuming what the TV announcers say is wrong