Question Number: 30362

Law 11 - Offside 4/28/2016

RE: Intermediate Under 13

Phil of Tarzana, CA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 30357

Referee McHugh mentions 3 ways that a PIOP is no longer offside. The second one:
'2 The opponents gain complete control of the ball without interference from the player in an offside position '
is no longer a requirement, right?

Under the new laws, an opponent merely has to make a deliberate play on the ball, that is not a save, where the PIOP has not impacted the play.

Would it be fair to say that there are now 4 ways...or would it be easier to replace #2 above with the deliberate play requirement?
Thanks in advance,

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Hello Phil
read the offside explanation on our front page to see if you see similar faults. The new wording might well require a better interpretation.

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

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Phil
It is saying the same thing as a deliberate play is in my opinion complete control of the ball. The deliberate play may be a more simple worded principle and your comment is well made and legitimate.
I suppose what it points to is the struggle that IFAB and indeed we all have which is using words and language to communicate what are the principles of reset leaving less openness to interpretation. What is the meaning of control, deliberate, deflection, save can at times test that interpretation.
In the recent offside question on the USA v Colombia Womens game there was great debate about whether the touch of the ball by the Colombian defender was a deflection or a deliberate play. It probably would not be interpreted by the less informed as control should that word be used.
So excluding the debatable outlier offside situations the vast majority of the time when the opponents gain unfettered control of the ball offside has passed and then the PIOP is free to get involved in active play.

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

See Question: 30370