Question Number: 24497

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 1/17/2011

RE: High School and adult rec Adult

Steve Wallace of Menlo park, CA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 24459

If the attacker is past the second to last defender, is going full tilt toward the goal and the ball is chipped right in front of him, why wouldn't he be considered involved in the play and be offside? That would be the first foul and the 'handling' by the keeper would be moot.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The view about 'when' an offside infringement occurs has changed.

It used to be that the offside infringement was treated as if it occurred the moment the ball was kicked by a teammate - - as if the player was on double secret probation. If the defender committed a handling foul before the ball could reach the player in offside position, the handling was ignored since the offside infringement came first.

The current view (in the United States) is only offside position is determined when the moment the ball is kicked. An offside infringement does not occur until the player does something that: (a) touches the ball (interferes with play); (b) affects the opponent's ability to see or play the ball (interferes with a defender), (c) touches the ball after a deflection or rebound (gains an advantage).

It is possible that a player in offside position might interfere with the goal keeper's ability to see or play the ball, and that this could happen before the keeper handles it (outside the area). At younger levels, the referee should not wait for a collision between the keeper and the player in offside position before deciding. An early whistle is appropriate to avoid serious injury.

However, FIFA has reminded us that simply moving toward the ball is not enough to infringe the offside law. It is not an infringement to be in an offside position.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Steve
The player in an offside position has to meet one of the conditions of offside to be called for the offence. Being in an offside position is on its own not an offence.
If the referee deemed that the deliberate handling offence happened without offside being called then that is the offence that is penalised. If the referee believes that the PIOP met the offside condition before the handling then offside is called.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Actually, none of us had considered that the player in Q 24459 was in an offside position. The question stated, 'The ball was chipped over the defense ...' That could have been before the speedy runner blasted past the defenders. Or it could be he was in an offside position as you assumed.

Still, just because a player in an offside position is running toward the ball, that doesn't complete the offense. The goalkeeper handled the ball first, and that interruped the offside offense before it was completed. Therefore the handling foul (outside the PA) happened first.

If we considered the offside-positioned player having gotten close enough to the play to affect the keeper, then he might be called for interfering with an opponent before he got to the ball.

But all of this presupposes that the attacker was in an offside position, which was never established.