Question Number: 30919

Law 11 - Offside 10/19/2016

RE: Competitive High School

Mark Ralt of San Jose, CA USA asks...

Case #1: Suppose a throw in is taking place for the green team. Green player (1A) wants to throw it to his team mate (1B) who is in an offside position but it's a throw in so no offsides. But then the orange player (2A) heads the ball away but a green player heads (1C) it to his team mate (1B) who was previously in an offsides position. if he receives the ball, still in that same position, would this player be offsides?
What if 1B went to the front of the orange player (2A) after he headed the ball away, would 1B still be offsides since he came from an offsides position?

Pic: http://tinypic.com/r/2qjbnzc/9

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mark
As described it is offside. As the ball did not get to Green 1B directly from the throw in then offside now applies. As the ball was played by Green 1C heads it to 1B who is in an offside position that is clearly offside.
If 1B was in an onside position at the moment the ball is played by 1C then there is no offside as Green 1C was in an onside position when the ball was played by a team mate.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mark,
good you are aware that offside position is exempt for the GREEN team taking the throw in in they can receive the ball directly.
Once the ball is throw into play if a ORANGE opponent plays it there are STILL no offside positional worries for the GREEN team taking the throw in because the ball is last touched /deliberately by the ORANGE opposition but that still could be a rebound, deflection or a deliberate save and offside STILL does not apply to the GREEN TEAM as NO other GREEN team mate has yet touched that ball to reset THEIR offside parameters.

Eventually at the exact moment WHEN the ball is next PLAYED/touched by a GREEN teammate that is a FREEZE FRAME snapshot of where are all the GREEN team mates with respect to the 2nd last opponent or the ball. If they are determined to be an OPP they are prohibited from active play.

You already know that there is often constant shifting and movement of players from both teams and the ball itself ping ponging around that offside is always in flux, constantly changing as movements and touches occur.
OFFSIDE
opposition goal line
keeper
OPP green 1 B (receives ball from 1C offside INDFK out)
2nd last opponent Orange 2 A (intercepts throw in) no change
non offside green 1 C (after ball hits 2 A C 1 plays ball to teammate 1B )
non offside thrower green 1 A

NOT OFFSIDE
opposition goal line
keeper
OPP green 1 B MOVES to NEW position after 2 A intercepts
2nd last opponent Orange 2 A (intercepts throw in) no change
NEW green 1B position (upon receiving ream mate 1 C pass NO OFFSIDE )
non offside green 1 C (after ball hits 2 A C 1 plays ball to teammate 1B who has ALREADY changed position to be in front of Orange 2 A )
non offside thrower green 1 A
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Mark,
In the first situation that you describe, 1B would be offside, because he was in an offside position at the time the ball was passed to him by a teammate. In the second situation, 1B would not be offside if he got back into an onside position before the ball was passed to him by a teammate. These are covered in NFHS Rules 11-1-1 and 11-1- 4 in the NFHS Rules Book.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Mark,

This is a situation where it appears both the NFHS rules and FIFA/IFAB laws would be in agreement. The first part of the two-part decision-making process for offside offences is always based on where the player was at the time of the last touch by a team mate. So all that matters here is the position of 1B when 1C headed the ball. In neither of the scenarios you describe, does the throw-in have any bearing on the matter.

In the first scenario (assuming that the relative positions of 1B and 2A had not changed after 2A headed the ball and before 1C heads it) this would be an offside offence. In the second scenario there would be no offside offence.