Question Number: 30721

Law 11 - Offside 9/6/2016

RE: Club Select Under 15

Jeff of Canton, MA USA asks...

During a weekend tournament, the attacking player played a through ball up the middle to an on-side team mate. The defender stuck out his leg to defend the pass, and the ball re-directed 20 yards to the outside, where an offensive player was in an off-side position before the ball was initially played by his team mate.

Since the ball was not played directly (intentionally) to him, is off-sides called?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jeff
As the defender had time to stick out his leg to play the ball that may not be considered a deflection or a rebound. If it is deemed a play on the ball then offside is reset and it is play on.
Some associations have come up with advice as to what constitutes a deflection / rebound. Here is UEFAs advice to referees.
http://www.law-11.com/uploads/2/7/9/0/27904083/8626672_orig.jpg
Now as you can see there is a fine line between deliberate play and deflection. Certainly higher up the skills levels the referee crew give less benefit to the defender once he moves towards the ball and there is a deliberate action of playing the ball even if the outcome is not as intended to the advantage of the opponents

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Jeff,

The judgement call the referee has to make here is a tricky one. Was it a deliberate play or a deflection? As Ref McHugh correctly states, there is a fine line between the two and he has given a link to UEFA's advice on this. In case it helps, FIFA has also issued some guidelines to help making the judgement, which are as follows.

Deliberate Play: Player moving towards the ball; The ball is expected; A deliberate act; Enough time to play; Balanced and ready to play; The ball is properly played

Deflection: Ball moving towards the player; Finds the ball coming against him; An instinctive reaction attempt to play the ball; Not enough time to play the ball; Has to find his balance first; The ball deflects from the player

As you can see, there are many factors to consider and in the end, as stated in the new edition of the Laws, 'Decisions will be made to the best of the referee's ability according to the Laws of the Game and the 'spirit of the game' and will be based on the opinion of the referee '

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 30725

See Question: 30726