Question Number: 29879

Law 11 - Offside 11/2/2015

RE: 4A Varsity High School

Lionel Heinold of Ephrata, WA USA asks...

A1 is being kept onside by B1 near the half line. A2 makes a long pass over the top. The race is on with A1 nearer the goal. B1 jumps and the ball is deflected towards the goal. A1 gathers the ball in and attacks. On or offside?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Lionel
No possible offside here. A1 was onside when the ball was played by A2 so there is no offside call. The next possible offside decision to be made is when the ball is played again by Team A. It makes no difference to Team A on offside if the ball is played by Team B.
In fact even if A1 was in an offside position here and the ball was played by B1 there is also no offside due to the deliberate play by B1.
Players can only be called offside when the ball is played / touched by the same team not opponents.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Lionel,
Not offside based on the information provided
B1 kept A1 onside as B1 was the 2nd last opponent and he was closer to his goal line than A1 when A2 kicked the ball.
Now the chase begins. B1 gets there ahead of A1 tries to play it back to the keeper A1 capitalizes on the poorly played ball and is FREE to attack
TWO FACTS
1stly he was ALWAYS onside from the beginning
2ndly the touch by B1 be it on purpose or deliberate does not change the 1st fact!

IF A1 was not onside at the time of team mate A2 kick/last touch lets say he slipped goal side of the B1 2nd last opponent so only the opposing keeper was in-between A1 and the goal line. He CAN NOT participate in live play UNLESS 1 of 3 things were to occur. The first two are not plausible here.
(A )new team mate touch when A1 was back onside or
(B) ball goes out of play for a restart!
#3 is!
(C)What is POSSIBLE is if B1 were to deliberately play the ball and it was not classified as a save or a deflection and no offside opponent had impacted B1's ability to see and get to and play the ball without interference. This deliberate action be it a well played ball or a mistake the previously restricted offside player is now FREE to play the ball as it is no longer considered to have been last touched by his team mates.
Cheers

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 29907