Question Number: 29388

Law 11 - Offside 5/7/2015

RE: select Under 14

Richard of CLAYTON, CALIFORNIA United States asks...

Red forward A1, in offensive zone about 10 yards from corner flag, takes throw in back to A2. A1 enters field of play and is now in offside position. A2 passes back toward A1 but ball rolls past and stops in corner arc. A1 runs toward ball, as does defender B1. No other red player is within 15 yards of the ball. I am the AR and raise my flag to signal offside before either player touches the ball (but they are both within a few yards). A1 sees my flag raise and stops advancing. Referee stops play for offside. After the game a few parents who also referee commented that I should not have raised my flag until either A1 touched the ball or at least both players challenged for it. My feeling is that A1 had at minimum gained a strong defensive advantage by being in offside position even if she never touched the ball since she had B1 contained in the corner. So, should I have waited the extra couple of seconds until A1 touched the ball to raise my flag or was the play and positioning of A1 sufficient to make the call?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Richard
This can and does happen when players in an offside position see the flag and stops before the whistle has sounded and before offside conditions are met. Let me put it this way. If the flag was held one to two more seconds longer until the PIOP touched the ball the question would not have arisen. Also say the ball went out for a goal kick / throw in without a danger of collision then there is no offside.
As regards your thinking on the benefit of the positioning of the PIOP it is not part of Law 11. Being in an offside position is not an offence and allocating player resource is a tactical decision by the defending team. The PIOP has to challenge an opponent for the ball or interfere with line of sight before it is interfering with an opponent.
If one looks at the PIOP that stands 10 yards behind the defensive line in an offside position at a free kick that player may tie up the attention / presence of an opponent in the defensive line. The PIOP cannot participate in play and the defending team can plan accordingly. There is no offside offence until the PIOP meets one the offside conditions.
Now the Laws allow for the lone PIOP to be called early when there is no other possibility of an onside player touching the ball. When that provision was introduced it was to deal with lengthy runs by the players and AR with play being brought back a distance for the offside offence. There was also a concern about unnecessary collisions with say the GK who comes running out of the penalty area when offside is going to be called.
In your scenario there is always the possibility of the passer following up on the through ball with the PIOP being told not to play it. Raising an early flag can cause all sorts of problem particularly when other options are still possible. Here is an example of an early incorrect flag and highlights why it is best to be slow with the flag and wait and see
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KAyWNXtCLWE
Here is another one where an early flag would have caused all sorts of problems for the game
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tjw5Nrq2mV8
Having said all in your scenario given the tight confines of the corner area there was every chance that offside was going to be called so it was not a big deal. The early flag simply allowed the PIOP to make a decision not to participate. Without the flag he probably would have touched the ball.
My advice to ARs is not to be eager to get the flag up and adopt a wait and see approach. By doing that the AR can prevent a lot of problems for himself. If the ball goes out of play, or the defending team team clears the ball away without challenge then no offence is present or if the PIOP touches the ball or challenged it is offside with no debate about the condition being met whatever about the actual positioning.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Richard,
offside criteria are reasonably explicit but there is ...SOME... wiggle room for an early flag if you sense the players will not deviate from their planned maneuvers versus an unexpected intervention by non offside forces.

Even within the FIFA LOTG if you examine their training videos they permit an early offside flag if the offside player is vigorously pursuing the ball as the only attacking player within the vicinity to have a chance to play that ball before it could exit the FOP.

On ...ANY ... ball that has the potential to be played by any other attacker or go into touch you ...SHOULD... wait for an actual touch of the ball by the offside restricted player. Same if an opponent will reach that ball well ahead of the pursuing offside player thus not be unduly challenged or endangered

If the ball is being challenged by an opponent and an offside player the relative playing distance is about two strides at the speed of play to actually get to the ball before the flag must be raised. Remember a fast moving opponent coming towards the ball from an intersecting angle is moving at 20 miles an hour as is the offside player in pursuit of that same ball from perhaps an opposite direction. You want to head off that confrontation in enough time to stop the crash. Their strides will be much longer and the challenge/playing distance is much larger than say an equal opportunity challenged ball from a stationary position. I would also say we lean to a quicker flag if they are very young or unskilled.

If you can comprehend that the ball will not go to any other attacker or out of play and the only person that could get to that ball is the offside player in pursuit or possibly an opponent arriving at the same time then you will raise the early flag because you would want to prevent a collision or knowing the restart location is way back at the point where the offside player started his journey...

Remember players play the whistle, the flag is your signal to the referee that YOU think play should be halted. The referee will consider the flag and apply his own knowledge of what he has seen and either agree, blow the whistle and stop play or else wave you off as his interpretation may differ with yours. As a coach I tell my player that the game is ...ON.. all the time, except when the referee blows the whistle to stop play. They are to stop, evaluate why the whistle sounded realizing the match is ...STILL ON..., even during the stoppage and prepare for an attack or proceed with an attack.

Not all restarts require a whistle and many a goal or attack occurs when you relax at a crucial time thinking you have time when you do not!

I instruct them to ignore any flag by the AR unless the whistle by the referee accompanies it. If while defending they do not get an expected flag/whistle they proceed to defend or chase the offside player down immediately, they do not whine about offside.

As a team we evaluate the ARs ability to discern offside and the referees communicative relationship. As we know the officials are a match condition just like the weather or pitch surface and we adapt accordingly.
The mantra of offside is when in doubt do NOT wave it about! Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

This is a tricky one. Once the AR puts the flag up, the AR has made the decision that the offside infraction happend. That is the flag stays down until the offside position player gets involved with play. You made that decision by putting your flag up but now the referee must agree with your decision which since he stopped play he was happy to do. The players reaction to your flag makes no difference in your decision. If a offside positioned player merely causes an opponent to go to a specific place on the field that is inconsequential to the offside decision.