Question Number: 32265

Law 11 - Offside 3/1/2018

RE: Rec Under 14

MARV of Bowmanville, Ontario Canada asks...

Regarding Offside and the terms Save and Played. The term Save is fairly straightforward.

Played is defined as 'Action by a player which makes contact with the ball'.

In every 'non-save' situation where the defender makes contact with the ball does this automatically negate the offside offence?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Marv,
NO
because in a SAVE situation you do not require to differentiate if the save was a deliberate action or an accidental instinctive one be it a deflection or rebound as none of these reset the opposition offside restrictions already in place .

In a NON save situation only a DELIBERATE action can reset the offside, a deflection or rebound, which can incur player/ball contact will not reset offside!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Marv,
Every 'non-save' contact with the ball by a defender does not negate offside. As ref Dawson says, a deflection or rebound leaves offside as a possibility.

The law says that a player commits an offside offence if they become involved in active play after the ball has:

''rebounded or been deflected off [...] an opponent''

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Marv
Only deliberate plays excluding saves reset offside. So a deflection or a rebound does not change offside should the PIOP interfere with play or an opponent.
It is left to the judgement of a referee as to what constitutes a save, a rebound or a deflection.
There will be easy ones to opine on the subject and then grey ones which are a subjective matter if opinion. First video in the attached link is an example. I had one at weekend where a defender tried to stop the ball going to a PIOP. He tried to head it and it glanced off his head. I took it as a deliberate play and a reset. Those that do not know Law 11 disagreed vehemently that it was a deflection.
Here is my associations advice on the matter
http://www.law-11.com/delib-play--deflection