Question Number: 30468

Law 11 - Offside 5/30/2016

RE: Competitive Adult

Lincoln of Alberton, PEI Canada asks...

Team A has the ball near top of the opposing teams 18 yard box. A center midfielder is making a run toward goal and was onside once the ball was kicked. While running towards the goal, the ball is tipped by a teammate(striker), slowing the ball down. The tip causes the center midfielder to now be in an offside position when receiving the ball. Is this midfield player offside now?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Licoln
Yes that is offside. The touch by the second attacker is another play which is then assessed for offside. Law 11 states that the ball is played or touched which does not even have to be deliberate.
Recent example was the Ramos goal in the ECL final in Milan. When the free kick was taken by Real, Ramos was clearly in an onside position. The ball was touched in flight by Bale and at that touch Ramos had then moved offside beyond the 2nd last opponent albeit slightly. That should have been called offside. The AR because of the tightness of the call did not flag or he missed the touch by Bale.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lMUTJfn81oE

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Absolutely offside. Offside position is evaluated at each and every time the ball touches a teammate, intentional or not. If the player was in an offside position at that last touch, she cannot become involved with play or she will be called offside.

On the opposite side of things, if a player A was in an offside position when teammate B played the ball, but was no longer in an offside position when the ball deflected off teammate C, A is no longer offside.