Question Number: 30376

Law 11 - Offside 5/2/2016

RE: Rec Under 13

Shawn Ramon of Beeville, TX US asks...

My team was awarded a throw in and upon the throw in the ball was deflected off a defender and landed at the feet of my player who was in an offside position protected by the throw in exemption. The referee awarded the offside indirect kick and informed that it did not matter who touched the ball first on the throw in when it was deflected. I argued that it had to be touched by my player first to be able to call offsides, but still awarded the kick to the opposing team. The deflection was a header but did not seem in any way intentional. Was I right?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Shawn
Yes you were 100% correct. Some referees interpret incorrectly the meaning of directly. As you say the exemption of no offside from a throw on, corner kick or a goal kick continues until the ball is touched by another member of the attacking team. A touch by the defending team changes nothing, no matter if it is unintentional or deliberate or for that matter totally accidental. Any touch by a team mate of the PIOP however changes everything. Offside consideration does then apply on that touch.
I believe the other match official was unsure and did not know the answer either.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Shawn,
This is incorrect from the referee, and I've come across this misinterpretation before.
As Ref McHugh states, there is sometimes confusion over the word 'directly'. For a TI, the law states a player is not to be penalised if receiving the ball directly from a TI. This is incorrectly interpreted sometimes as it can be penalised if the ball is deflected off an opponent - what it really means is that there needs to be another attacking touch after the ball is in play, then we can start thinking about offside once he releases the ball....so, after the ball is in play there still needs to be 2 attackers involved (thrower may retrieve a deflected ball, so no offside is on the table, but it's only a different player that can be penalised if they then become actively involved in play. Or a teammate receives the ball, then offside may be called after that against a different player).
The other reason this decision was incorrect is that a player cannot put themselves offside - there always needs to be a second attacker involved.