Question Number: 30948

Law 11 - Offside 10/24/2016

RE: Competitive Adult

Luciano Pilato of Valencia, CA United States asks...

To the referees that have received the new instructions on the changes of Law11:
For most of our home games, we get referees assigned from one local association only (I will not make any names and/or location references, as it is NOT my intention to criticize our fellow referees or infringe our code of ethics).
Here is the scenario: Assume you have an attacker (player A) 5 yards in the opponents half (so close to the halfway line) in an offside position, a team-mate plays a through-ball to him, which player A reaches just shy of the goal-line (say close to the corner flag). What has been happening is that the ARs will wait for this attacker to touch the ball and subsequently raise the flag to signal the offside infraction¦ all good this far. The restart however (and since the referees are all doing it, I got confirmation from a few that it is instructed this way) is taken where the ball was touched and not the initial offside position had been spotted. In HS and AYSO, we have been instructed to sprint back to the initial offside position. In my opinion the latter makes more sense, because if you take the IFK where the ball was touched, you are actually penalizing the defending team by 35-40 yards in this case (or rewarding the attacking team that distance for committing an offside infraction). What is your take on this and what are the instructions on this game situations in other areas?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Luciano.
if you grasp that an INDFK in FAVOUR of the defence is in fact a GIFT of ball possession by the former attackers then the restart location is not a matter of GREAT concern is it? Under the new FIFA LOTG the offside restart is WHERE the ACTUAL involvement occurs, NOT the actual position when the OPP was restricted to GET involved . I understand that the current rules for high school have not yet adapted to this latest change and are still doing it the way it USED to be historically. The run back concept to sprint back to the initial offside position WAS in fact part of the old FIFA protocol NOW it is much easier for the AR to be the at the spot the restart must occur from. The AR is STILL expected to stay with the 2nd last defender or the BALL.
I do know they just revamped their rules to conform with FIFA and could likely do so again as FIFA has altered LAW 11 a great deal in the past few years .

I suppose as you are working for those associations where the bylaws of ROC take precedence you do what is being asked of you but if referee are confused as to the concept not being implemented uniformly the local association should meet to discuss the issue until such times consistent advice is meted out to all concerned when or if the rules are changed to be in harmony with FIFA . You realize under the new interpretation that if an OPP was to cross back INTO their OWN half to play the ball after having been restricted the INDFK is occurring INSIDE their OWN half. Now that is a bit of luck on the defenders' part is it not?
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Luciano
From the 1st June 2016 Law 11 was amended. The IDFK is now taken from where the offside was completed that is where the ball was touched or an opponent was interfered with. As you point out the IDFK was taken previously from the initial offside position. Not any longer. Indeed the IDFK can now be taken in the players own half having come back from an offside position.
NFHS has not updated its Rules so in that code the IDFK continues to be taken from the initial offside position not where the player interferes with play or an opponent.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Luciano,

I have to say that I do not particularly like this law change by the IFAB and I do not agree with their rationale for adopting it, which is that it provides more consistency with other laws (or at least, I do not think that this reasoning outweighs the disadvantages that come with it) but as it stands, it is the law and we are duty-bound as referees to abide by the provisions of the law.

So yes, in a game played under the LotG if the player runs all the way from the half-way line (where they were when the ball was last touched by a team mate) to the corner flag before becoming involved in active play, it is the latter location that the IFK should be taken from.

As ref McHugh says, this may be different under NFHS rules and possibly AYSO as well but I couldn't say for sure as I don't have a copy of their laws.

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

See Question: 30951