Question Number: 30633

Law 11 - Offside 7/25/2016

RE: Competive Under 12

James Kane of N.Wildwood, Nj USA asks...

A ref called off sides, and then explained why and no parents or Coaches heard of this! Our striker was at mid field on our side waiting for the ball to be kicked to him his body was on our side he was standing still but he leaned his head forward the ref said when he leaned forward his hair was offsides! Is this true.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi James
Offside is determined by the position of the players body excluding the arms that is the parts that can legally play the ball ie head, foot, chest etc. So in the case of the calculation the body part of the 2nd last opponent closest to the goal line sets the offside line and any part of an attacker who breaks the plane of that line is in an offside position. At half way the edge of the line closest to the attacking goal is the offside line so again breaking the plane of that line is an offside position if there are no defenders in the half..
Have a look at this video. While now dated the principles of positioning in the early part of the video are still relevant.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DCyP92TVWSQ
In particular look at frames 2.00 to around 2.30. You will note that the *leaning* White players head in frame 2.10 puts him in an offside position.
That is the technical answer in that the players head can put him in sn offside position and I believe that the referee may have been facetious in his answer in that such calls are very difficult to make in real time. At the highest level technology has shown that many tight calls are made incorrectly.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iND8HoYDL-I
On the difficult ones at speed it is extremely difficult and many times how it looks to the AR is the decision that is given. Clearly ARs do not get it correct all the time.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi James,
Thanks for asking!
I bet there are plenty of decisions a referee would give that nobody would have ever seen before - but it would still be right. After all, the referee is usually the only person at the ground who has read the laws, discussed the details, viewed circulars and directives, and spent hours attending seminars, updates and education sessions.
Some situations are rare. I've never personally witnessed the situation you describe either, despite quite a few years of refereeing.
Offside position is judged from any part of the body that can legally play the ball. In otherwords, it's judged from any part of the body except the arms.
If a defender an an attacker have their feet exactly level, but the defender is upright and the attacker is leaning forwards, then part of his body is closer to the goal line than the defender - so he would be in an offside position.
Of course, when players are moving it's almost impossible to spot it with this sort of accuracy, so it's rare that this difference comes up - but it doesn't sometimes happen.
With the halfway line scenario - again, it's rare to see - and the unfortunate reality is some assistant referees may keep the flag down to make the 'easy but incorrect' decision. But the head being over the halfway line has certainly put him in an offside decision, so well done to the assistant referee for not only knowing the law thoroughly, but having the courage to make an unpopular and misunderstood decision.
A referee by himself would probably have great difficulty spotting a decision this tight.