Question Number: 29738

Law 11 - Offside 9/26/2015

RE: U14 competive Adult

Ian of San Diego, CA USA asks...

This just happened in our soccer game.
A defender gets possession of the ball & attempts to clear it out of the penalty box but it deflects off an opponent, who is onside, & goes straight to another opponent who is standing in an offside position. Is this player offside?
Law 11 & Gaining an Advantage states deflections off the post or off the shooters opponent as being offside but I can not find a defender deflecting a ball off a forward to another forward who is standing in an offside position.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Ian,
that is because gaining an advantage only pertains to a deflection rebound or deliberate save off an opponent!

What you need to realize, is ...ANY... touch of the ball, be it on purpose or accidental, ...RESETS... the offside criteria for a ...NEW... positional evaluation, ...ONLY... for the team that physically touches the ball.
The defender's deliberate play, by kicking the ball, has reset the opposition offside restrictions to zero and created a ...NEW... offside positional evaluation for his defending team only.

The moment the ball deflected off the attacker, as a new ...TOUCH... of the ball by a player there will be a freeze frame picture of positional determination made at that exact moment the ball deflects creating a ...NEW... offside paradigm for his team mates only .

In your scenario the player receiving the deflection of the ball off his team mate would be guilty of ...interfering with play... IF he touched/played for the ball because he was restricted by his position (when his team mate last touched the ball he was offside positioned) to be involved!

Offside INDFK out IF He actually plays the ball or interferes with an opponent.
Remember it is not an offence to be offside positioned, only if the PIOP becomes... INVOLVED... is there an offence.
In a recent match I had a similar incident, whereby the ball was cleared into the side of an onside attacking player and rebounded into the goal. An offside attacker tried to deflect the ball in to take credit for the goal but luckily it bounced over his outstretched leg, so no touch occurred and no defender was compromised by his impact on play or challenged . If he ...HAD... made even the slightest of contact it would have been an INDFK out as he attempted to play the ball but failed. He was also fortunate when making an attempt to be involved he did not interfere with any opponent, because if any defender was impacted by his actions, he could have taken away a good goal.

Offside INDFK out IF He actually plays the ball or interferes with an opponent.


Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ian
In the opening few lines of Law 11 it states and I quote ** A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball TOUCHES or is played by one of his team'' Capitals by me. A deflection is a touch.
In your scenario this was indeed offside as the ball was TOUCHED by a team mate to the player in an offside position. There could not have been any offside until the ball was touched or played by an attacker to the PIOP. So had the defender played the ball to the PIOP it would not have been offside. The touch or play does not have to be deliberate in offside.