Question Number: 30360

Law 11 - Offside 4/27/2016

RE: Competitive High School

Dan Tentis of Mandan, Nd United states asks...

A attacking player plays the ball to his teammate who is in a offside position while it is in the air a defender goes to play the ball and it goes off his head and lands at the players feet who was initially in the offside position. Offside yes or no thx

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dan
The great offside deflection debate. Referee Manjone outlines a rule change which comes into effect for the Fall season.
In FIFA the referee has to opine whether the contact by the defender was a deliberate play of the ball or a deflection / rebound.
Sometimes there is a fine line of interpretation between a poor deliberate play and a deflection.
For a play to be considered a deflection UEFA poses the following criteria. The ball is moving towards the player, the player finds the ball coming against him, an instinctive attempt to play, not enough time to play the ball, has to find balance first and the ball deflects from the player.
Here are some videos to ponder over.
http://garcia-aranda.com/offsideifab/esp004video008.html
https://vimeo.com/105993087
https://vimeo.com/105997090
Two were called as offside while one was not.
From your description I would suspect that as you use the word play that the defenders action may have reset the offside as a deliberate play.
Here is a video that the panel had great debate about
https://youtu.be/xgoRylxkXdw?t=1747
Was it a poor deliberate play or a deflection. The AR called it a deflection while others agree and some are not so sure.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Dan,
I hold the opinion that when the ball comes to the player, no player will ever get out of the way and let the ball go by, there will always be a motion by the player as that is an instinctive movement. The question to be asked is whether it is an action or a reaction?
�DISTANCE: How far away is the ball?
�FLIGHT PATH: Is the ball's direction, or angle altered on its way towards the player?
�SPEED: How fast is that ball moving?
�SPACE: Is there room to react?
�TIME: Is there time to prepare?
�IMPACT: Does the ball strike the player, without the player being aware or time to react?

Cheers.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Dan,
From what you described, under the current high school rule, the player in the offside position who received the ball is not offside. However, starting in the fall, the player will not be offside because the defender deliberately play the ball. Here is the new NFHS offside rule that will go into effect with the fall season:

A player is offside and penalized if, at the time the ball touches or is played by a teammate, the player is involved in active play and interferes with play or with an opponent or seeks to gain an advantage by being in that position. A player in an offside position receiving the ball from an opponent, who deliberately plays the ball (except from a deliberate save), is not considered to have gained an advantage.

I hope that you have a successful officiating year.