Question Number: 31139

Law 11 - Offside 12/31/2016

RE: U5 and up to high school rec, select and competiti High School

mary Ramirez-de-Arellano of damascus, MD United States asks...

Can you please explain the change made to Law 11 ? I read and re read it and cannot visualize what I am supposed to do differently from before. From a class I took it sounded like the position from where the indirect free kick would be taken had changed, but I didnt understand exactly how and where.

I really appreciate your help and this website!!

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Mary,
Just to point out Law 11 under the new version in 2016/2017 put out by the IFAB/FIFA it has altered the restart location based on WHERE the ACTUAL involvement occurs. NFHS USA high school will likely adopt this once they examine the FIFA changes at their next committee meeting and implement a rule change.

You are primarily correct in your assumption. The restart location USED to be from where the OPP (offside positioned player WAS at the moment the ball was LAST touched by the team mate. NOW it is where the OPP actually interferes with the opponent or touches the ball. This is a major change but MORE in keeping with other restart locations occurring from where the incident,infraction occurs. It is NOW possible for the INDFK restart to be awarded EVEN inside the OPP's OWN half of the field (an impossibility previously as the OPP position MUST be inside the opposition half to become a restricted player)!

You see the RESTRICTION still BEGINS when the POSITION is 1st established INSIDE the opposition half as it ALWAYS used to be. We still WAIT till the OPP gets involved but instead of using that initial position as a restart point, we use WHERE the OPP finally involves himself when WE stop play to award the offside! This can occur a LONG way away from the POSITION our OPP was caught in the 1st phase in behind the 2nd last opponent or the ball because of the rapid movement of players chasing the ball . The UNUSAL aspect here is a restricted OPP can return to his OWN half of the field to GET involved and the INDFK will occur in his OWN half NOT back where the POSITION first was established that created his inability to be involved in play.

A for instance #1
the blue OPP is inside the opposition half at say the top of the center circle(ten yards inside the opposition halve as the 2nd last opponent has moved up onto the midline, The blue keeper punts the ball in live play quite high and say about ten yards short of the midline. Our blue OPP travels back across the midline about a 20 yard distance to try and get under that high arcing ball and heads it up and away. THAT is an INDFK for offside and where he HEADED the ball is the restart point INSIDE his own half. BECAUSE that is where he became involved and interfered with play.
incident #2
same situation same location of the OPP but this time a long clearing ball is pounded way up the opposing touchline which the OPP is in pursuit of as well as an onside team mate also giving chase. BECAUSE there is an onside and an offside team mate both with an opportunity to play that ball we WAIT to see who gets to it first OR if the OPP interferes with an opponent in someway we would call that the involvement. They run 30 yards into the corner and the onside player veers away leaving the OPP as the one to actually GET to the ball and touch it just off to the side of the 18 yard PA . THAT is the INDFK restart point for offside as THAT is where the OPP BECAME involved in ACTUAL play, he is guilty of interfering with play . WE no longed truck the restart location back up the field where his POSITION was establishing him as restricted.
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Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Mary,
As is indicated in NFHS Soccer Rule 13-2-2b, Indirect free kicks are awarded and taken from the point of infraction if a player is being penalized for being offside. As you are aware and as long as I can remember, although not written in the high school rules, the point of infraction is considered the point where the player is in a offside position (second to the last defender). Because FIFA has clarified the point of infraction, and because this new clarification does make more sense because of the many recent changes in the offside rule, I do expect that the NFHS Soccer Rules committee will provide a clarification at our January Rules Committee meeting. I will provide information through this site on any approved clarifications. Thank you for asking about this very important change.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mary
The change only applies to FIFA games at the moment.
What has changed is the IDFK is now taken from where the player in an offside position interferes with play or with an opponent. In the past the free kick was taken from the offside position not from where the offside infraction was completed.
The extreme example is say a player in an offside runs back into his own half to play the ball. In the past the free kick was taken in the opponents half at his offside position when the ball was played by his team mate. Under the new amendment the free kick is taken in the players own half where he touched / played the ball to commit the offence.
BTW the assistant referee does not leave his own half to signal the position of the restart.
Now the reason for the change is that IFAB has opined that with the exception of offences in the goal area, throughout the Laws every free kick is awarded from the place where the offence occurs, so it is logical that this should also apply to offside. It also happens quite a lot in practise in that the IDFK may be taken at the location the ball was played by the PIOP which in some cases can be a distance from the offside position