Question Number: 26247

Law 5 - The Referee 4/27/2012

RE: Select Girls Under 18

Ron Woodruff of Cincinnati, OH United States asks...

This is a bit of a silly question about the true 'Spirit' of the offside law. I was the AR for a U17 Girls game where the red attacker was in an offside position by about 2 feet when her teammate kicked her the ball.

Unfortunately for her, the kick was weak and she was forced to sprint back towards the midline about 10 yards to retrieve the ball. By the time she got to the ball, the second to last blue defender had retreated about 5 yards which meant that she was now about 15 yards onside. Plus, she was being challenged for the ball which she kicked over the touch line by accident. (Blue throw in)

So, at this point, is it even worth flagging her for offside according to the 'letter' of the law? Isn't the 'spirit' of the law that a player gains an advantage by being offside?

(In this case, her team was already down 4-1 with less than 2 minutes to play.)

I'm interested to hear what you would have done.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ron
While no longer part of the Laws of the Game the former Law 5 Decision 8 quoted below still holds good. It is up to referees and assistant to use it wisely
'' The Laws of the Game are intended to provide that games should be played with as little interference as possible, and in this view it is the duty of referees to penalize only deliberate breaches of the Law. Constant whistling for trifling and doubtful breaches produces bad feeling and loss of temper on the part of the players and spoils the pleasure of spectators.''
In this case I may have ignored the offside offence as doubtful / trifling and allowed play to continue with a throw in. However one has to be always careful about 'spirit' of the Law and the letter of the Law when making or not making decisions.
I can think of reasons why the call should be made which includes goal difference, match control, consistency, appeals, context, level of play, correct to do so etc.
There has been occasions when I have been an assistant and on a tight call that is not even appealed I have viewed the offence as doubtful and allowed play to continue with no debate from the defending team. However when the offside offence is so blatantly obvious then it must be called.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

IMO, it is important to make the correct offside call regardless of the time or score of the match.

The essence of the offside law isn't 'gaining an advantage.' Even when that term is used for Law 11, it has a specific definition (touching the ball after it rebounds). Offside is about who is eligible to participate in play. One who is in offside position may not participate in play. One cannot become 'onside' by running to a different position. Indeed, it is entirely reasonable for a defender to ignore a player who is in a clear offside position. Enforcing the law causes attackers to be conscious of their position. Not enforcing the law means that the referee is choosing to follow some personal and arbitrary approach to the game.

The spirit of the laws does apply in offside decisions. It leads the referee to choose 'not offside' when there is any doubt about offside position or any doubt about participation in play. But, the spirit does not permit the referee to ignore clear infringements of the laws.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I also believe anytime there is a clear offside offense, it should be called. The Spirit of the Law allows for the referee to ignore doubtful violations of Law 11 but not obvious ones.