Question Number: 31130

Law 11 - Offside 12/26/2016

RE: Adult

Muhammad Rizwan Khan of Abbottabad, KPK Pakistan asks...

I just want to know that i heard that the offside kick would be taken from the place where it was kicked from the player to his teammate.. I mean from where we can take the offside kick from the place where it was passed by the player of from the place where the offside was occurs?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Muhammad,
offside restarts are NOW taken from the point where the ACTUAL involvement by the offside player occurs. IE: WHERE HE TOUCHES THE BALL OR WHERE HE INTERFERES WITH AN OPPONENT!)

It is NOW conceivable an INDFK restart can occur from inside the OPPS OWN half of the field. This was an impossibility in the past, as the restart was based on the established position of the player 1st deemed to be offside. NOW, although the RESTRICTION for the OPP BEGINS at the moment of the last touch by the team mate based on player's positioning to the 2nd last opponent or ball while inside the opposition half, we are to WAIT until the restricted player has directly INVOLVED himself in play so a flag is raised and whistle to stop play occurs. This restart spot can be many, many yards from WHERE the OPP BECAME an offside positioned player as the player moves up or down the field UNTIL he becomes INVOLVED!.

Cheers & Merry CHristmas

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Muhammad,
You are right that the location of the offside free kick has changed but I think you may have got it slightly mixed up. If you had said that the free kick should be taken from the place where the offside-positioned player (OPP) kicks the ball that has been passed to him by a team mate, you would be just about correct.

However, touching (or kicking) the ball is only one of the ways that a player, who was in an offside position when the ball was last touched by a team mate, can become active in play and commit an offside offence. They can also become active by interfering with an opponent or gaining an advantage (which also involves touching the ball but after a rebound from the goal frame or an opponent).

So as ref Dawson says, the free kick is now taken from the place where the OPP becomes involved, even if in some cases, that might be in their own half of the field.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
The IDFK is taken from where the player touches the ball or interferes with an opponent. That means that in certain situations the free kick can be taken from a players own half having gone back from an offside position to play the bell in his own half.