Question Number: 31153

Law 11 - Offside 1/4/2017

RE: Offside Adult

George of Nicosia, Cyprus asks...

I would like to know, if the offensive player, at the time the ball is kicked by his team mate towards him, is outside the field area, and following the pass he/she comes inside the field area, takes the ball and scores, is it an offside position?

Thank you very much.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi George,
He would have to be deemed as OPP WHEN the ball is last touched by his team mate! Players are permitted to exit the FOP during actual play IF it is part of the playing movement created by momentum and perhaps avoiding a collision . They are expected to return ASAP and not engage in any unfair antics such as sneaking in behind the goal or behind the technical area only to burst onto the field downfield or in behind the defense.

They are held to the positional criteria of offside if they exit the goal line as being ON the goal line and if they exit along the touchline from where they exit same as if on the field of play.

If for example an attacking player say passed a ball off to his right but deaked left to go around a defender and this was along the touchline as he runs outside the line to avoid a collision then cuts back into the field to receive a return pass that would be deemed as fair and appropriate.

If he exited the FOP and say ran all the way to the corner flag and then cut across in behind the goal line to pop up on the other side of the goal this would NOT be tolerated as fair and likely be sanctioned/cautioned for such behavior.

The offside would be irrelevant as it is the behavior being punished.
If the player is simply outside the FOP as part of play he is held to offside criteria same as if on the field of play.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi George
The player is considered to be on the field of play directly opposite his position off the field of play or if behind the goal line he is placed on the line for offside purposes. What that means is that the player does not avoid offside by being off the FOP.
In practise as an AR looking across the FOP the only position of concern is the offside position of attackers not whether the players are beyond the touchline or not which the AR might not be able to see anyway from a distance.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi George,
It's almost impossible to say from your description as you have not given sufficient detail about where exactly the player was. I think the main point however, as my colleagues have pointed out, is that a player cannot avoid the consequences of being offside simply because of being outside the boundary lines at the time of the last touch of the ball by a team mate. If the player is outside the sideline, pretty much the normal criteria would apply. If they have crossed the end line, the law says that ''the player shall be considered to be positioned on the goal line for the purposes of offside.''