Question Number: 32509

Law 11 - Offside 6/15/2018

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

Hello,

I have one video from match Portugal-Spain. It is free kick before Costa's second goal.

Video (2nd half, in time 10:10):

http://footballfullmatch.com/world-cup/portugal-vs-spain-15-06-2018/

Why did the referee move Costa from his position?

Thank you!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Petr
I do not believe he moved Costa nor has he any authority to do so. My take on it is that he may have told Costa that he would call offside at the moment of the kick. The player took that advice and moved. The referee can be clearly seen to move away after advising Costa. I would believe that if he was moving him he would have stayed close to him and not allowed the kick to take place. I have given further thought on this topic in question 32510

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Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Petr,
A referee has no authority to tell a player where to stand at a free kick, so as ref McHugh says, all he was probably doing was alerting Costa that if he stayed where he was, he risked being given offside.

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Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

I agree with my colleagues. It was an interesting video clip in deed. I have used a similar tactic to warn a player that he or she may be called for offside if they stay there and get involved and play. Usually this is when attacker stand directly in front of the keeper on a free kick.

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Offside Question?
Offside Explained by Chuck Fleischer & Richard Dawson, Former & Current Editor of AskTheRef

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