Question Number: 32210

Law 11 - Offside 2/2/2018

Greg Kall of HILLSBOROUGH, CA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 32208

Hi everyone... thanks for your insights...
Agreed, the deflection off the flag is a corner case, but with all the pains taken with the addition of corner cases appended to Law 11 in the last IFAB version (offside player impeding, being fouled, etc), it seemed that omitting the flag to the inventory of 'rebounded or deflected' sources was an oversight.

All good... i posed the question during a late night drill-down on Law 11, which you've fallen victim a couple of times before!
Best to all!
GKall

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Greg
Yeah it could be an oversight yet the Laws try to deal with likely situations rather than outliers. I have seen many gaining an advantage by being in an offside position yet never off a corner post!

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Greg,
I don't feel it's an oversight (or if it is, it's not much of one). Rather, as suggested in earlier responses it is both an unnecessary addition for a situation that is highly unlikely to occur and ultimately, something already covered by the law - a deflection from the corner flag would see the law applied as per normal.

On the other hand, the situations of a player impeding an opponent or being fouled are relatively common and have occurred on various occasions, in televised games for instance.