Question Number: 29125

Law 11 - Offside 1/23/2015

RE: Grade 3 High School

Hiskennery of Lagos, Lagos Nigeria asks...

Striker A and B gains possession of the ball in their half, striker A sprints with the ball to the arc of the 18yards box and passes the ball to striker B who is beyond striker A, then striker B scores a goal. Note that the defending team players were all behind when striker A made the pass to striker B.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
As described this is offside assuming of course that Striker B is ahead of the ball at the moment of the pass by A. To stay in an onside position in this scenario Striker B must remain behind or level with the ball as he does not have the option of NOT being nearer to the goal line than the 2nd last opponent.
In Referee Dawson excellent example of this type of scenario there would be absolutely no doubt about offside if the Green receiver was clearly ahead of the ball at the moment it was passed. There is a bit of doubt based on the video evidence and the AR deemed that he was ahead of the ball which is why the scoring player was flagged offside. He certainly received it ahead of the team mate but the crucial point was the moment the ball was passed that is when the video was frozen at frame 27
Always remember that in the attacking half a player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than BOTH the ball and the second-last opponent. If a second last opponent is not present just the goalkeeper then the only way of being onside is to stay behind or level with the ball.
Here is another video showing who the dynamic changes based on the movement of players
https://ussoccer.app.box.com/s/ruqcsf0671k1bcf6dzwf/1/344299505/2960122231/1
The only way here the scorer could have stayed onside was to stay level with the ball or the 2nd last opponent the yellow line. As it turned out he only had one opponent between himself and the goal line when the ball was crossed by his team mate and as he was ahead of the ball that was offside.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hard to imagine it NOT being offside .

But when there are no 2nd last opponents then the width of the ball is the measure of offside .

As long as the striker accepting the pass was not beyond the ball, closer to the opposing goal line at that CRITICAL moment in time at the pass/touch over of the ball by his teammate he is onside.

I hope this link still works but it shows how easy it is to mistake a position by looking only at the players. In the match this was called offside the Gaston Fernandez's go-ahead goal is called back but in really looking close you can see it is not!. Easier to spot in slow motion, frame by frame, hard in real time.

The POINT here is just because the receiver looks marginally ahead of the passer REMEMBER the BALL is the decision maker.

http://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/matchcenter/2014-08-16-new-england-revolution-vs-portland-timbers/details/video/22997


PLAYER A passes to PLAYER B
note the outstretched lead leg of the PLAYER A doing the pass.
The BODY of PLAYER B (who receives the pass) is in my opinion even with the ball when it leaves the extended foot of PLAYER A This is in my opinion is not offside. The maxim is WHEN in DOUBT DO NOT wave the flag about!

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

If an attacker is closer to the opponent's goal line than both the 2nd last defender and the ball, he is in an offside position.

If, for instance, a teammate passes him the ball and he touches it, he will be penalised for offside.

Those 2 sentences cover everything you need. Whether the ball carrier has gone past all the defenders is irrelevant - it doesn't then entitle him to pass the ball to a player in an offside position.