Question Number: 29522

Law 11 - Offside 7/4/2015

RE: Adult

Romeo of Toronto, ON Canada asks...

An attacker is 5 yards in an offside position. Ball is kicked directly toward him. A defender sticks out his hand to attempt to prevent ball going to him. Ball strikes hand but continues to attacker who scores a goal. Does referee allow play to continue and allow goal (defending team deliberately played ball/advantage)? If play continues, should defender still be Cautioned for his attempt (since he did not in fact prevent ball from going to opponent)?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Welcome to the new world of offside. The defender has made a deliberate play of the ball, and by definition, the player who was in an offside position is not guilty of gaining an advantage by playing the ball received after a deliberate play. Advantage is appropriate for a handling decision, particularly where it leads to a goal.

Can the defender be cautioned? Yes. Should he be cautioned? IMO, no. A caution isn't needed for the players - the opponents are ecstatic at the goal. A caution isn't needed for the game, since the teams all know that this not something that anyone would repeat - - no goal would have been scored but for the handling.

Note: If the referee judges that the original play by the teammate was a shot and not a pass, everything changes. The handling becomes a 'deliberate save,' and the player in the offside position is not eligible to play the ball. Blow the whistle. Award the foul (or penalty kick) and caution the defender. In my experience, the players will accept the decision as right and just. They may not understand that a goal can be scored by a player in offside position because of handling.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Romeo,
the answer is YES for the goal! Advantage can be applied !
A deliberate handling is considered a deliberate play thus resets the opposition's offside criteria!
The need to caution is ITOOTR, you could, you might, but is it necessary, likely not, ...if... a goal results, certainly if advantage materialized but they failed to score we could caution at the next stoppage. Same if the advantage DID NOT materialize, bring the ball back to point of foul award free kick(dfk/pk) and caution

You can check our article section to look up #37 You Call It which explains how the recent changes to offside interpretation will permit the foul of HANDLES the ball Deliberately to reset the oppositions offside restrictions as a deliberately played ball. Also read the offside explanation on our main page to further your understanding .

If this deliberate handling was ITOOTR classified as a ...deliberate save... in that the deliberate handling by a player stopped a goal from being scored there can be NO advantage played that allows a goal, because offside is NOT RESET for the opposition when the ball is deliberately saved! Then you show the red card and SEND OFF the defender for DOGSOh and restart with a DFK or PK!

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Romeo
It is at the discretion of the referee. Personally I would not caution as a goal has been scored and the attempt to stop the ball came to nought.
As regards the play itself the referee should allow the advantage and as the handling has reset the offside the referee awards the goal.
Now on paper the decision is easy. The challenge for the referee is to decide if there was in fact deliberate handling or not. I have watched with interest the FIFA Women's World Cup and many handling call where made that IMHO where not deliberate.
The stonewall handling offence are indeed rare, the ones where the player actually moves the hand to direct the ball. Most of the handling that are there are the ones that are a matter of opinion due to the positioning of the arms. Where there is no deliberate handling and the ball deflects / rebounds of an opponents arm to the player in an offside position is offside when the PIOP touches the ball.