Question Number: 30206

Law 11 - Offside 3/20/2016

RE: Junior league Under 13

David of Trowbridge, GB asks...

Attackers 1,2,3 are all in an OSP but retreating from an attacking phase of play. Defender 1 has the ball just inside his own half. Defender 1 tries to play a through ball to his own player, but, the ball blasts onto an opposition player (who is not trying to control it, he just recoils to stop being hit, but gets hit) and the ball rebounds to the still retreating A1, who is still in an OSP. Given that this is a rebound, is it offside? Retreating player A1 subsequently passes it back to his midfield, and returns to an Onside position.

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Hello David,
ANY touch of the ball by a player (deliberate or accidental) will cause HIS team to be evaluated for offside criteria!

The rebound of the ball to the retreating player was off of HIS team mate so HIS team Last TOUCHED the ball, so the retreating player if OFFSIDE positioned has participated in play. Play is stopped and the opposition is awarded an INDFK from where the retreating player WAS at the time the ball bounced off his teammate.

It is only when a ball comes off a player AFTER last being played by the opposition do we judge if it was a deliberate play or a deflection/rebound or a deliberate save, as to whether the opposition PIOPs are allowed to participate. Here if an OSP was to participate they would be guilty of gaining an advantage!

The confusion here lies in the opposition defender deliberately plays the ball which resets offside for the 3 retreating opponents but because that ball struck one of their OWN attacking team mates it immediately reevaluated their position, which you say was OSP, thus they are denied the opportunity to participate in play. The retreating player is guilty of interfering with play not of gaining an advantage.

If the defender had deliberately played the ball off one of his OWN team mates and the ball rebounded to the retreating OSP attackers nothing need be done as they were released on the 1st deliberate play by the defender the unfortunate bounce is a bit of bad luck for the defenders bonus for attackers.

In your scenario the retreating player A1 should NOT have been permitted to subsequently pass the ball back to his midfield, it should be an INDFK ffor the opposition, once you are offside restricted NOTHING can change that, including returning to your own half. Read our offside explanation on our main page to understand HOW a player returns from a former OSP position.

from our pitch to your pitch in the spirit of fair play.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi David
Yes this is certainly offside. It makes no difference what type of touch is made by the attacking side. It can be deliberate, it can be a touch both deliberate or accidental and it can be a rebound off a team mate.
The last player to touch the ball before it went to the player in an offside position was an attacking team mate that is the rebound which makes it offside when the PIOP interferes with play or an opponent.