Question Number: 31573

Law 11 - Offside 5/31/2017

RE: Competitive Adult

Gary Graham of Glasgow, Scotland asks...

If a player is running through to a ball is onside and a player who is in an offside position but not interfering with play makes a move towards the ball but does not play the ball, is he offside and a foul given

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Gary
That has not been offside for a while since new offside interpretations were introduced in 2005. Being in an offside position nor running towards the ball is not enough to commit an offside offence.
Since 2005 the interpretation has been refined to where we are now. Under the present Law 11 to commit an offside offence a player in an offside position must interfere with play or meet one of the interfering with an opponent conditions. To interfere with play a player must touch the ball. To interfere with an opponent a player a player must do one of the following
# prevent an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or
# challenge an opponent for the ball or
# clearly attempt to play a ball which is close to him when this action impacts on an opponent or
# make an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.
Most likely the offside will be called for a challenge by the PIOP on an opponent in these circumstances.
You might have seen the Sanchez goal for Arsenal v Chelsea in in the FA Cup Final. Sanchez played the ball through and Ramsey was clearly in an offside position. Ramsey moved towards the ball but suddenly realised that Sanchez who was onside was looking to play the ball which he did. The AR initially flagged for offside as it may have looked like Ramsey played the ball where in fact he did not. Referee Taylor after consulting with the AR correctly awarded the goal as there was no offside offence under the current Law 11.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j3up3pfZehg
The commentary does not help as it is clearly wrong to say that moving towards the ball completes an offside offence. In fact the laws clearly gives advice that running towards a ball without either touching it or interfering with an opponent is NOT offside. The only time it can be is when it is absolutely clear that the player in an offside position WILL play the ball or interfere with an opponent and there is no potential for anything else such as onside player playing the ball. That condition is to prevent collisions and for the AR to wait until the last moment to flag when he knows it is going to happen.
By the way the IDFK is now taken from where the PIOP touches the ball or interferes with an opponent not his original offside position. That means the IDFK can now be in the players own half if he comes back from an offside position to play the ball

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Gary,
Based on the scenario you depict, there would be no offside offence. What you describe is almost exactly as shown on page 196 of the Laws of the Game document, which goes as follows:

''An attacker in an offside position (A) runs towards the ball but does not prevent the opponent from playing or being able to play the ball.''

The caption on the accompanying illustration says: ''Not offside.''

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Gary,
not much to add to my colleagues thorough explanations other than reiterate the obvious . A lot of the pundits & commentators really fail to grasp the nuances of offside and many of their comments create massive myths & confusion.
There has been a very deliberate effort on the part of FIFA/IFAB to make attacking soccer more relevant so any close decision is made to favour the attacking side . The PIOP pretty much must physically TOUCH the ball to truly be certain of interfering with play and IF interfering with the opponent it must be CLEARLY demonstrated by his CLOSE proximity & actions that irrevocably affect the defender from playing or getting to the ball. Remember that what a defender THINKS or DOES plays no part in an offside decision only the ACTIONS of the PIOP are considered!
Cheers