Question Number: 2070

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct

Ned Deming of , asks...

Re: Q#2046..Mr. Matheson--. .Thank you for your thoughtful response, however a part of your answer reinforces my concern. You state, "One example of interfering with play without touching the ball would be to screen the goalkeeper on the shot." Actually, that would be an example of "interfering with an opponent." I fully understand the concept of interfering with an opponent. My question concerned the other two aspects of active play--gaining advantage and interfering with play.. .Let's go back to the two-man breakaway described in my question and let's let the play develop a little more. Player A with the ball splits to the right near the 18 while Player B without the ball splits to the left and penetrates to the far post behind the keeper without interfering with the keeper in any way. The keeper moves towards the near post to block the shot that he expects Player A to take. Instead, Player A feels defensive pressure approaching from his backside so he moves towards the endline while Player B drifts back along the edge of the goal area until he is in an onside position. Player A then crosses to Player B who makes the easy goal. Are you going to call him offside? Are you going to invoke "gaining advantage" after he is already on side? . .As for consensus, I attended a number of the Class 4A Boys State Championship matches this past Spring here in Washington (4A is the top class for the largest high schools.) The refs were fairly consistent in calling offside--calling a play dead before it had really even begun to take shape--simply because an attacking player without the ball had moved into an offside position. These calls often occurred when the play was developing 30 or 40 yards from the endline! During the same time period, I caught a few top level matches on television and noticed that the top level refs did not call offside this same way, just as you say. So that's what got me started looking into this whole mess.. .I don't think I would ever want to ref any high level games like you. Too much pressure! Too much stress! (Especially with these offside calls!). .--Ned Deming

Answer provided by Referee Starr

Ned, it looks like that you have spent a lot of time and energy to resolve this issue in your mind. I only wish that all referees would do the same for their dilemas. Law XI has been refined just about as much as possible. In spite of that, all 111,000 USSF referees often disagree with decisions that are made with reqards to this law. .Most times I have been told that the "Spirit of the Game" dictates how this law is applied. One thing that helps me when determining interference is the fact (in my mind) that a player in an offside position should (temporarily, albeit)be considered as an ineligible player to the goalkeeper. In fact, he is assisting the goalkeepers team in this manner. A GK should not be concerned with players in an offside position. If he/she is, that is their problem. The law states that it is not an infraction to be in an offside position so any player may be ahead of the ball. The interference occurs when the GK cannot get to the ball because he is blocked or his vision is blocked and he cannot react to the position and movement of the ball. In your scenario you state that player 'B' is ahead of the ball and behind the GK. No problem as long as he does not "play the ball" from this position. This, in fact, may be a tactic and a legal one. When his teammate moves to the goalline, he moves behind the ball, receives the ball from his teammate, and scores. There is no problem with that. When the ball was played to him, he was not in an offside position. Prior to that he was behind the GK and in front of the ball and as previously stated, that is allowed..I know that this does not completely eradicate your frustration but I hope that it offers another thought. Good Luck!

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

2008. This question illustrates that many referees even at high levels of play like State Championship Matches incorrectly call offside. FIFA has issues memoranda reminding us that it is NOT an offence in and of itself to be in offside position. An AR that raises his or her flag when a player becomes offside 30 yards from the ball is in error. Ned asks a basic question, "How can you interfere with play without touching the ball?" You do this by being near enough the ball to influence play. Hence, it is reasonable to raise the flag before a player in offside position actually gets to the ball if it is obvious he is influencing play.