Question Number: 31287

Law 11 - Offside 2/22/2017

RE: All levels of play

John of Plymouth , Mi Usa asks...

With the new interpretation of offside, how is the assistant referee supposed to call an offside offense in a teams defensive half?

Is the AR suppose to cross the center line to call this offense?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi John
No the AR must stay with 2nd last opponent on the opposing side as things could change he simply raises the flag to indicate offside stoppage is required IF the OPP DOES get involved back inside the other half. When or if the whistle goes then with freehand do the queen wave flip the hand down and up by rotating the arm to indicate over and back or a simple finger point there to there can be an agreed upon signal . This will be a rare event so relax and just follow protocol. The involvement location is the restart location which should be self evident!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi John,
The IFAB has (somewhat disappointingly) not issued any guidelines for this but what seems to be the general consensus is that the AR should not cross the halfway line but should communicate with the referee, who will in turn, indicate the location of the restart.

In England at least, the FA, EFL, Premier League and PGMOL have issued a joint communiqué that reads (in part) as follows:

''The AR should raise the flag to indicate the offside offence. It is not required to retain the
flag across the field of play to indicate 'Far', 'Middle' or 'Near' as this may lead to confusion

ARs should not cross the half-way line when signalling or communicating an offside offence.

It may helpful for the AR to use their left hand in a 'right to left' gesture/arc signal to help
communicate that the player has moved back from an offside position.

Referees should take control of positioning of the restart as they would on any other FK situation in their half of the field of play.''

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
The AR judges the offside in his own half which is the only position that a player can be in an offside position. If the player then returns to his own half to play the ball and complete the offside offence it is up to the referee to indicate the location of the IDFK restart not the AR who does not move from his normal patrol path in his own half.
It is a pretty rare offence and it should rarely trouble most ARs. When it does happen the AR signal the offside as normal and lets the CR deal with the restart. Hopefully the CR has seen the flag and uunderstands the restart condition and location.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

John,
In high school play, the AR holds the same position with the second to the last defender, raises the flag for the offside, and when recognized, points to the spot of the foul. The AR may also use the non-flag hand to indicate that the offside player had come back across the halfway line. This situation should be covered in the pre-game conference. I hope that you will have a successful spring season.