Question Number: 29448

Law 11 - Offside 5/28/2015

RE: competetive Adult

SCOTT of mississauga, ontario canada asks...

my daughter plays in a high level woman's league. Last week the team she was playing against had a free kick (direct) about 25 yards out. This team put a player in our net behind our keeper to distract her on the kick. it worked as they did score. I have never seen this before in playing and watching soccer for 45 years. The ref said it was legal. Have you ever seen this done and is it more common than I think it is

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Scott,
the referee is essentially incorrect if he allows the opponent to be inside the netted area BEFORE the restart of play as it is illegal to leave the FOP without permission of the referee. The opponent can be on the goal line and then can step into the netted area once play begins to show non involvement but that opens up another set of issues.

During the last change to the definition of 'interfering with an opponent' the verbiage and phraseology of offside was altered, removing all references to acts that 'deceives or distracts an opponent.' so we are no longer overly concerned with mere presence of an opponent affecting the play of the opponents. UNLESS the PIOP (player in an offside position) challenges for the ball or blocks the line of sight
This interpretation is being creatively explored by teams evolving tactically to how the IFAB and FIFA have altered the LOTG. I used the hash marks to show the affected portion ///////

INTERFERING with an opponent, what the law USED to say OLD TEXT

"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 movements or making a gesture or movement which in the opinion of the referee deceives or distracts an opponent/////


INTERFERING with an opponent what the law NOW says! NEW TEXT 2015
FIFA Circular 1362 127th AGM of the IFAB in Scotland 2nd of March 13 2013
"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//////


I do want to point out while it is not an offence to be in an offside position nor is it a offence to deliberately step into the netted area of the goal to show non involvement, if the referee considers that the PIOP has left the field of play for tactical reasons and had gained an unfair advantage upon re-entering the field of play, the player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour. The player would need to ask for the referee's permission to re-enter the field of play.

If the PIOP was to step off the goal line and remained stationary between the goalposts and was inside the goal net as the ball enters the goal, a goal must be awarded. However, if the attacking PIOP player distracts an opponent, the goal must be disallowed, the player cautioned for unsporting behaviour and play restarted with a dropped ball from the position of the ball when play was stopped, unless play was stopped inside the goal area, in which case the referee drops the ball on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the ball was located when play was stopped.

This distraction concept here is slightly confusing because it is not based on the offside position but it is stated within the LOTG a referee can consider any player acting in a manner which shows a lack of respect for the game or verbally distracts an opponent during play or at a restart as cautionable show the yellow card misconduct.

Our recent you call it deals with a similar but tactically the same ideology. My best suggestion for your keeper ignore the presence off offside opponents focus on the ball and if she happens to run into them or they are verbally instigating or if they exit the fop and then renter have her remind the officials of what you learned off this site.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Scott
This should not have been allowed to happen for a number of reasons
1. The player may not leave the field of play without the referees permission. That includes the netted area of the goals.
2. Any attacking player off the field of play is placed on the goal line for offside consideration
3. A player may not unsportingly distract an opponent during play or at at restart
So the referee had a number of options to deal with the situation which includes possible offside, cautioning the player for unsporting behaviour, and disallowing the goal. The restart is an indirect free kick to the defending team. Better still the referee should before the free kick is taken instruct the player to stand on the field of play. An offence is more obvious in that case.
If the players movement took her temporarily off the field of play and all that she did was distract the goalkeeper while off the field the resart is a dropped ball from where the ball was when play was stopped. If she did nothing while temporarily moving off the field of play in that position then the goal is awarded.
Doing this deliberately though has only one purpose which is to distract /interfere which is patently unfair and it should not be allowed.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee should have held up the kick, and not permitted the player to be inside the goal (which is off the field of play).

If the referee believed that the player was on the goal line (which is inside the field of play) and behind the keeper, the issue is more complicated. A player near the keeper is not offside simply by standing there. The player infringes the offside law when she makes a challenge for the ball (an actual, not theoretical challenge) or clearly interfere with the keeper's line of vision. While it is also common for a player 'dancing' in front of the keeper to also commit an impeding foul (movement away from the ball that hinders an opponent), the keeper's play would not ordinarily be impaired by someone not between the keeper and the ball.