Question Number: 30967

Law 11 - Offside 10/27/2016

RE: High School

Terry of Mead, Washington United States asks...

With the change to Law 11, and the instruction of placing the INDFK at the point of the OPP touching the ball has already caused some questions. How would youdeal with this situation. the OPP knows the placement rule, so he he chases after a long ball and intentionally shields the defender and waits until the ball almost reaches the end line before touching it. Where would you say he becomes 'active in the play'?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Terry
In FIFA games the offside is completed at the moment of the touch of the ball or the interfering with an opponents such as a challenge. The moment the player shields the opponent away from ball it is a challenge and that is the point of the infraction.
NFHS has not yet changed Rule 11 so the IDFK is taken from the offside position not where play was interfered with.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Terry,
I assisted the NFHS in their recent RULES deliberation with offside by helping our esteemed panel referee Joe Manjone who has input to their rules committee with some wording or ideas so they could in fact follow the FIFA 2014 way of interpreting offside. Then FIFA revamped that rewrite of LOTG in 2015 and again 2016 and added the wrinkle of involvement as the restart location along with a slew of new LOTG changes and the NFHS rules committee has yet to deliberate on these matters. I suspect most of these will eventually be adopted as it is in the best interest of the game for officials to be able to do both types of matches without confusing the differences. I suspect the NFHS rules committee is a tad frustrated at so many, so often, so soon!

IN either league an OPP CAN NOT shield the ball without interfering with an opponent but the restart location is different as the POSITION is the restart point for high school and INVOLVEMENT is the restart point for for FIFA

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Terry,
As indicated in NFHS Rule 13-2-1. Direct Free Kicks are taken from the point of the infraction which in the case of the touching of the ball would be the spot where the ball is touched. However, intentionally shielding the player is considered obstruction in high school play (Rule 12-5-1) and would result in an indirect kick from the point of the obstruction. Here is the high school definition of obstruction: 'Obstruction is the deliberate act by a player, not in possession of the ball and/or not attempting to play the ball, of running between an opponent and the ball or using the body as an obstacle.' Please note that high school rules are made in accordance with the goals of high school sports which are: Education, Participation, and Safety while maintaining the integrity of the sport. I hope that you are having an enjoyable fall soccer season.