Question Number: 30580

Law 11 - Offside 7/6/2016

RE: Select Under 16

Scott of Honolulu, Hawaii USA asks...

I am a new referee and learning. While AR for a non-competitive high school summer league, I had an interesting situation. While attacking, the two strikers are in the offside position at the time of the shot, closing in towards the GK, but not in the play at the time of the shot. The shot went to the GK, but rebounded off of her. In this play, she caught it on the bounce as the two strikers closed, but what if she hadn't and the strikers had been able to score?
We discussed and determined that once the ball rebounded, it 'resets' play. However, could the strikers have been considered to be 'gaining an advantage' by being offside in the hopes of a rebound?
Thank you

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Scott
Thanks for the question. As described the situation would have been offside had one of the players, in an offside position at the moment of the shot, played the ball or interfered with the goalkeeper. A rebound, deflection or a save does not reset offside just deliberate plays by the defending team. A save is not deemed a deliberate play. So this would have been offside for gaining an advantage by being in an offside position.