Question Number: 29603

Law 11 - Offside 8/14/2015

RE: Rec Adult

Ben Goodrich of South Jordan, UT USA asks...

I couldn't find this after searching. If it has been answered please refer me to the Q&A already online.

Two questions both related to offside.
1. If a player is even with the offside line/ball what part of the body has to cross the line. Lets pretend that the width of the line is 3 feet wide, because that will help me understand. Is the line considered to be the start of the 3 foot wide line or the far edge of the line. Then if one finger is across the line is that offside or does the whole body need to be across? Does that make sense? What has to be across the line to be considered offside.

2. If there is one defender lets say at the top of the 18 with the ball, an offensive player at the 9 yard mark between the last defender and goalie, and the goalie down on the endline. So the offensive player is in the offside position since there are not two defenders back and the ball is with the defender who is farther from the endline than the offense. If the defensive player passes the ball back to the goalie. The offensive player attacks the ball before the goalie touches the pass and scores a goal. Because the offensive player was in the offside position when the ball was played does it matter that the pass back was from the defense? In this case would an offside call be made? We had this happen in a game and the players were upset because the referee did not call offside stating it was because the pass was from a defender not the offense. I do not know enough about this to be able to teach my team the correct call for this. Any help would be appreciated.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ben
Only parts of the body that can legally play the ball are considered for offside. So a players arms and hands are not part of the offside calculation
For offside purpose the line is draw from the part of the 2nd last opponent nearest the goal line. So lets say the goal keeper is on the goal line and the defender is stood some 15 yards from goal in an upright position. The line most likely is drawn at that players heel. So an opponent needs to have part of his body that can legally play the ball beyond that line to be in an offside position. While somewhat dated this old FIFA advice is still good to understand the concept. In particular 3.00 onwards answers your question
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9BgcolsU6s

This video is good visual representation of the offside line
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mK9OvAlAUVE

On your second question the referee was 100% correct. Offside is a team concept and a player cannot be called offside when the ball is played to him by an opponent. Offside only applies when the ball is played by a team mate. So while the player was in an offside position the fact that the ball was played by a defending opponent nullifies that. If the ball was played by a team mate to the player in an offside position then offside would be called. Being in an offside is not an offence and the player in an offside is excluded from participation with his team. However once the opponent have the ball that exclusion from play no longer applies. So if an opponent makes a mistake in playing the ball to an opponent that is all that it is.
And here is a video of your offside question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U01-uArNpdw&t=1m40s
As the ball was played by the Red defender to the Yellow attacker who was in an obvious offside position there is no offside offence. If the ball was played by a Yellow team mate then offside would be called.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Ben,
well the PLAYABLE body parts do NOT include the arms/hands.
The IMAGINARY line for the ball would be the leading curved edge facing the goal!
The IMAGINARY line for the 2nd last opponent body part would depend on the closest PLAYABLE body part part to the goal line!

If you lean it could be the top of head, a stride it could be a front toe or back of a heel, you squat it could be the top of the knee or the backside butt, you stand sideways the edge of your hip or outside of the foot!

The EASY part of offside position is it is a yes or no decision, the DIFFICULTY is the body parts are RARELY static, and the ball is constantly moving!

A standing, stationary 2nd last opponent makes for an easy judgment of a static offside line when it comes to freeze framing the critical last touch of the ball moment.

As mentioned the difficulty is when opposing players are running at 20 plus miles per hour in opposite directions with the ball travelling 3 or 4 times faster that freeze frame moment to gauge POSITION is a complex series of eye coordination of all the components! Then to arrive at a decision when most likely there are constant changes of positions, simultaneously by all parties as you try to note the moment of the last touch with the EXACT pitch position of the players who are in play.

You ask what part of the body needs to be across this imaginary line to be considered as offside, actually makes a great deal of sense. In static positions,
if at the CRITICAL moment when the ball is last touched by the attacking team mate, you see a playable body part of an attacking player is closer to the opposing goal line than the playing body part of the 2nd last opponent even if a slight head lean or a bit of the knee or foot is past that back ankle it is TECHNICALLY an offside position. It is identifiable and a raised flag, IF there is INVOLVEMENT, later would be correct

However as I mentioned,RARELY is this EASY static position available at the moment of judgement, instead it is the FAST paced everyone racing around where that moment of last ball touch and the exact body part position will be impossible to accurately detect. There is a mantra, 'WHEN IN DOUBYT DO NOT WAVE IT ABOUT!' if reminds us to keep the flag DOWN if we are not sure. This is more like your concept of a 3 foot wide line because the eye sees and body reaction is not instantaneous but it takes time to register which when players and ball are moving fast, significant distances are involved in real time

One must remember when analyzing offside from video and the ability to back it up, slow down, and stop it ,at your leisure, a referee has NO such luxury in a full speed match.


To answer your second question remember it is NOT an offence to be in an offside position. If the defending team deliberately plays the ball towards an offside opponent he should probably thank them for the gift if he deposits the ball into their goal. Offside involvement restrictions are lifted if an opponent deliberately plays the ball! The referee's explanation is spot on! That is simply a mistake!

There will be rebounds and deflections where if offside restrictions are in play then a ball impacts off a defender this does DO NOT COUNT as a deliberate play and a ball making its way off such an impact to an offside opponent the involvement restriction is NOT lifted. Offside will apply.

It is worth mentioning as well if the ball is deliberately saved by the defending team that action still does NOT reset the offside involvement restriction. It is treated the same as a deflection/rebound.

Cheers