Question Number: 31421

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/4/2017

Zluvka of Liberec, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

Hi,
explain please these two parts of the Law 11 with examples and descriptions of the typical situations (differences between situation 1 and situation 2).

F.e. in situation 2 YC, in situation 1 not? Why? etc.

1) An attacking player may step or stay off the field of play not to be involved in active play. If the player re-enters from the goal line and becomes involved in play before the next stoppage in play or the defending team has played the ball towards the halfway line and it is outside their penalty area, the player shall be considered to be positioned on the goal line point for the purposes of offside.

2) A player who deliberately leaves the field of play and re-enters without the referees permission and is not penalised for offside and gains an advantage, must be cautioned.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Zluvka
It had been a practise for some players in an offside position to step temporarily off the field of play to show that they were not involved in active play. In addition a player may have moved off the field of play as part of active play and then decided not to return immediately so as to show that he is not involved in subsequent play.
Those two movements are legitimate and therefore not considered to be unsporting behaviour.
Now that should not be confused with a situation where a player deliberately stays off the field of play for a time and then unexpectedly returns to the field when offside has passed and the defending team has gained control of the ball. As it cannot be called offside it is certainly unsporting which is the reason for the caution for USB.
In summary the player in an offside position cannot use an exemption on not being called offside by stepping temporarily off the field of play or being off the FOP through momentum to then gain an unfair advantage by staying off deliberately for longer than necessary to return unexpectedly to challenge or intercept the ball. That is unsporting behaviour.
In the situations where the timing is tight I would recommend that the offside might be the best call.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Zluvka,
the inference is the 1st portion our attacker is NOT trying to deceive or gain an advantage when he seeks to be not involved so as not to stop play. A player can also inadvertently exit the FOP through his momentum. In all cases the player is now considered as being on the goal line for the purposes of evaluating position. This also applies to the defenders for evaluating their participation in fulfilling the 2nd last opponent criteria.

The differences is why they MIGHT exit and what they might do later!
Attackers looking to get out of the way from obstructing the keeper or inadvertently making contact with the ball should not be penalized for exiting the FOP as it serves no purpose. That said once they HAVE exited quickly to avoid being involved or through momentum it is EXPECTED they return immediately. Thus without anything being said the referee has granted them permission to leave and reenter with no conditions other than being OPP restricted players WHO IF they did get involved immediately would be guilty of offside

What CAN occur is what the 2nd part refers too as a reason for USB
ONCE the attackers EXITED they remain off the pitch LONGER than necessary looking to unfairly affect play by being sneaky thus perverting the honourable aspect of why they originally left. Thus this returning action CAN become unsporting behaviour

As in an exiting attacker leaves left of the goal to avoid interfering with the keeper a rebound ensues the ball pops up and bounces eventually goes to a defender at the right side of goal. The attacker knew to step back to play the initial rebound he will deemed offside for gaining and advantage so he runs around the goal while outside the goal and comes back on to the FOP in behind the unsuspecting defender who is unaware of this attacker's NEW position so as he turns to play the ball being forced by a different attacker he is pickpocketed by the attacker in behind him. Given the former OPP attacker offside parameters were RESET once the defender had deliberately played the ball there is no offside possible but the unfair re-entering action is not permitted so a CAUTION show the yellow card and an INDFK awarded to the defence because of the attackers unfair action of reentering WITHOUT the referees permission


It is also equally important to grasp that defenders who EXIT the FOP to CREATE an offside by stepping outside the touchlines or goal line to trick a call against the attackers are also guilty of USB.
Cheers

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 31430