Question Number: 30388

Law 11 - Offside 5/5/2016

RE: Rec College

Jack of Rexburg, Idaho USA asks...

Hello,

So during my teams first game on the regular rec soccer competitions here, one of the ARs was calling random offsides and when I asked him, he explained that 'a new fifa rule' determines that a player is offside by interfering with play in any way. For instance, player A is in offside position on the right side of the field. Player B is on side on the left side and receives a through pass from player C. When player B makes a run, player A proceeds to head towards the goal in order to position himself for a cross. The referee then calls an offside claiming player A interfered with play since he 'pulled the defenders away with him as he ran to position himself, regardless of where the ball is or who received it'.

Then I argued with the game manager who proceed to tell me that their trainer is the one who gave that instruction is that how you interpret FIFA's rule 11.

Am I crazy or that is just complete bullcrap? Because a player has to interfere with the other players involved in the play, hence the defenders close to the ball, the goalkeeper, etc, not anyone on the pitch.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jack
Law 11 is the most frequently asked question on the site. In recent years FIFA / IFAB has changed the interpretation of Law 11 to limit when a player can be called offside and to limit the situations where a PIOP can interfere and be called offside.

The current advice states and I quote
**interfering with play” means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate.
“interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball
“gaining an advantage by being in that position” means playing a ball that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position or that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position.**
From your description the match officials clearly had an incorrect interpretation and those instances should NOT have been called offside. It is not an offence to move into an offside position even if it moves defenders to cover that. Indeed it is now a tactic of many Pro teams to position attackers in an offside position at set pieces so as to avoid marking and then for the PIOP to get involved in the 2nd phase of play such as a knock down having at that moment got into an onside position. As I constantly advise the opening line of Law 11 states that **It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.** . So the player has to do something more which is one of the three quotes above which involves playing the ball or challenging an opponent which includes line of sight to the ball.
Now in a match situation it is clearly not going to get changed during play. Unfortunately all the team can do is adjust its tactics to take account of the erroneous interpretation of an AR by clearly staying in an onside position at all times. That should not happen yet little else if anything can be done.
The game manger and trainer need a refresher course on Law 11 offside ASAP . Perhaps with the new Laws being introduced in June 2016 that they will get to be instructed on the new *FIFA rules* which will sort out their erroneous interpretations.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Jack,
You are correct that this would not be an offside according to Law 11. However, are you certain that Law 11 is used in your game. I note that you mentioned that this was a college rec game. Many college rec or intramural programs as do many other non-college programs modify the rules to make the game meet the goals of the organization. I know of college intramural soccer programs where there is no offside. I recommend that you check with the program administrator to be certain of the rules that are being used, and if Law 11 is the actual rule, that you inform him what ref McHugh has indicated. I hope your team is having a successful season.