Question Number: 30478

Law 11 - Offside 6/4/2016

RE: competitive College

John Cardoza of Madrid, New York United States asks...

A player is called offside.
Is the restart at the point of the second to last defender or the point where the offensive player was when the ball was played by his teammate?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
The new laws from the 1st June states that the offside IDFK is taken from where the ball is touched by the PIOP.
To quote Law 11 ** If an offside offence occurs, the referee awards an indirect free kick where the offence occurred, including if it is in the players own half of the field of play. **
That change now means that IDFKs for offside can be say a restart in the players own half where the PIOP returns into it to play the ball, not the location of the PIOP at the time the ball was played by a team mate as heretofore .
The law change now reflects common practise of taking the FK from where the ball was played such as in situtations where the player travelled a distance to touch the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

My colleague has it right, there is a change in the new Laws of the Game that came into effect June 1. But some caveats about that:
-- Competitions that began before June 1 and are continuing do not use the new Laws until the next season starts
-- College games typically do not use the Laws of the Game, but the NISOA rules. They may not have changed yet.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

John,
The indirect kick is to be taken from the point of the infraction which in this case is defined by NCAA Rules as the spot of the offside player at the time that the ball was last played by a teammate. I hope that you have a very successful collegiate season.

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See Question: 30480