Question Number: 29224

Law 11 - Offside 3/4/2015

RE: competitive Professional

moses of KITALE, Kenya asks...

I recently got into an argument with my friends about the offside rule, if a defender passes the ball back to his goalkeeper and the ball is intercepted by a striker in an offside position who scores will the goal count.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Moses
A player can only be offside on a play / touch of the ball by a team mate. Offside does not apply when the ball has been deliberately played by an opponent.
In your example there is no possible offside as a player passed the ball to his goalkeeper and it was intercepted by an opponent in an offside position.
It could only ever be offside if the pass was from a team mate of the player in an offside position NOT an opponent.
There is only one exception to this when the ball rebounds / deflects off an opponent or it rebounds off the frame of the goal or off a save by an opponent. Those all happen after a play/ touch / shot by an attacking player. The intervening contact by the opponent is not seen as deliberate play by an opponent and therefore do not reset offside.
It is called gaining an advantage by being in that position and Referee Dawson has kindly quoted the definition which is in the Laws of the Game booklet.
In summary there is no possible offside in your question and the goal counts.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Moses,
clearly not offside!
Little to argue about but given offside is a multipart criteria based event that requires an initial positional evaluation at each moment when a team mate touches the ball . Once the restriction of position has been established only then is subsequent involvement a condition to penalize. In your situation insufficient criteria of offside is being met.

It is NOT an offence to just be in an OFFSIDE POSITION nor is it an offence to just receive the ball from an opponent when in an offside position. Although your striker became involved in play he was NEVER restricted because the criteria of offside requires the ball to be last touched by a team mate when the striker was in an offside position. The ball being deliberately played by the defender to his keeper would reset any offside restriction of the opponent!

There are three exceptions where a ball, being last touched by an opponent, would not undo offside restriction initiated by the former team mates' touch thus rendering a offside opponent guilty of involvement. This occurs when that ball is
(1)deflected off an opponent ,
(2) rebounded off the crossbar, either goal post, referee, AR or corner flag
(3) or the ball was deliberately played to him after a SAVE by an opponent

#3 is difficult to fully grasp because a deliberate play RESETS offside EXCEPT when in the opinion of the referee that deliberate play resulted AFTER a SAVE ! There is some degree of uncertainty to what a ...SAVE... is in the sense a keeper is not always going to know if a ball is going high or wide?
It is his PRIMARY duty to make SAVES!
I think we must cut the keeper slack when balls directed towards his goal (that will not necessarily score if he did not choose to intercept) are in fact saved and there is a resulting redirection of the ball . It will NOT matter if the ball is seen as a deflection, rebound or deliberate play all of which are NOT resetting ANY of the oppositions current offside restrictions from the opponents last touch of the ball. This also holds true for a defending player who clears the ball off his goal line but we would likely credit him with a ...SAVE... Only if he prevented a sure goal.

The concepts of making a deliberate play and challenging for the ball are currently undergoing some thought as to their exact nature.
One might consider a deliberate play in the same way you would determine deliberate handling when making the distinction between a deflection or rebound!
A challenge requires you to be within two paces at the speed of play to effectively pressure and interfere with an opponent.
Impeding is in my opinion the current evaluation used to evaluate interfering with an opponent other than physical contact!

As you can glean from the brief synopsis it is why offside generates argumentative discussions lol

While it is good to read the current laws and definitions I suggest you review the FIFA videos and other material to put meaning to the words in a clearer context.

LAW 11 OFFSIDE Quote FIFA lotg
Offside position
It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

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

A player is not in an offside position if:
• he is in his own half of the field of play or
• he is level with the second-last opponent or
• he is level with the last two opponents

A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:
• interfering with play or
• interfering with an opponent or
• gaining an advantage by being in that position

There is no offside offence if a player receives the ball directly from:
• a goal kick • a throw-in • a corner kick
Infringements and sanctions
In the event of an offside offence, the referee awards an indirect free kick to the opposing team to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred (see Law 13 – Position of free kick)When an offside offence occurs, the referee awards an indirect free kick to be taken from the ...position... of the offending player when the ball was ...last.... played to him by one of his team-mates.


Definitions
In the context of Law 11 – Offside, the following definitions apply:

• "nearer to his opponents' goal line" means that any part of a player's head, body or feet is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. The arms are not included in this definition

• "interfering with play" means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate

• "interfering with an opponent" means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball

• "gaining an advantage by being in that position" means playing a ball i. that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position ii. that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position.
A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage

Cheers