Question Number: 26409

Law 11 - Offside 6/2/2012

RE: rec Under 13

dan of astoria, ny usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 18164

In regards to disregarding an AR's offside call... if it is subjective... I feel the CRef should always trust the flag... b/c a simple raise of the flag is a fairly severe intrusion into the game... players may hear the flag, and hold-up while others may continue... that possibility of confusion is a problem.

But in reality, I guess the CRef has the right to wave it off.. and the players must wait for the whistle..? ???

thx.
dan.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dan
How many times have you heard "Play to the whistle".
There are many examples in the game of referees waving down offside flags, foul flags etc. From a very early age players have been told to play to the whistle. If there is no whistle play continues.
To give some examples.
In a recent Euro Qualifier N Ireland were playing Estonia. The ball was about to be played towards an Estonian player (Blue) in an offside position by a team mate but just at the last second the ball was toe poked away by a N Ireland player ( Green) but it still made it way to the Estonian player in an offside position. The AR erroneously raised the flag as he thought the ball was last played by a Blue team mate of the player in an offside position. Many N Ireland players stopped playing when they saw the flag but the referee, who clearly saw that it could not be offside, correctly allowed play to continue by ignoring the flag which was then dropped by the AR. Estonia subsequently scored from a pass by the player that was in the offside position.
That was absolutely the correct decision and had the referee ruled offside he would have been shown to be wrong.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YLDgt9yFfU&feature=related
Incident is at 1.01
In the second clip while it is not clear the AR raises the flag as he believed the Blue player in an offside position was offside. The CR ruled that the PIOP with his arms raised did not interfere with play or an opponent and as the 2nd Blue player was clearly onside he allowed play to continue and a goal was scored.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfJ4Fi0k2pY&feature=relmfu
Yes the AR should not have flagged but the real error here was the Red defenders who stopped playing without the whistle.

So yes the flag can be an intrusion but players should know that they play to the whistle not the flag and ultimately it is the referee that makes all decisions including offside not the ARs.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

There are many referees who agree with the notion that the referee must stop play if the assistant referee flags for an offside infringement and the flag misleads the players. IMO, however, the laws place on the referee the obligation to get the call correctly. The referee must wave down the flag if it is certain error.

In waving down a clearly erroneous flag, however, the referee can (and IMO should) let the players know - - 'keep playing, not offside' or 'keep playing, kicked by defender.' In many cases, the flag is too early and the ball runs safely to a defender/keeper - . 'Good flag, but lets keep playing' supports the assistant and allows for the correct decision.

But common sense can also prevail. If everyone has stopped playing in anticipation of the whistle, nothing prevents the referee from obliging them.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Dan,

As a ref I won't overrule the AR's flag unless I feel like I really have to.

The most common scenario is when the keeper has picked up the ball, in which case the AR will expect me to overrule him anyway.

Apart from that, the other most likely scenario is when the AR has incorrectly raised the flag early, and the offside player is no longer running for the ball while an onside player is.

In scenarios like this where it's clear the AR was incorrect we have to overrule. If the defence has stopped then that's really their tough luck - everybody knows to 'play to the whistle'.

In a recent match of mine there was Attacker A, moving towards the 2nd last defender, and within 5 yards but in an offside position was Attacker B. Attacker A flicked the ball over the defender, and it looked like it may have been a pass to Attacker B. Up goes the flag....as Attacker A runs onto his own ball. I was fairly certain the flag was wrong, but not 100%, so I took a few moments to decide what to do. Fortunately, the ball went out, so I consulted with my AR. I confirmed that he had flagged incorrectly, but the AR said he flagged because he believe Attacker B was in the defender's path, thus interfering with an opponent. I was in a better position to judge this so I overruled him, and this was well accepted.

Just one example of why a referee may want to overrule an AR - but it's not something I would do unless I'm 100% certain, and only ever on a subjective determination of 'involved in play'. The only time I've ever overruled a neutral AR in even determining if an attacker is in an offside position at all is when I've definitely been in the correct position and I've had either lazy or very inexperienced ARs who weren't getting the decisions correct. Aside from that, the AR is almost always in the best place to judge such a position.