Question Number: 32912

Law 11 - Offside 12/10/2018

RE: Adult

Dimitris of Athens, Greece asks...

https://youtu.be/_38Ldg9OlFU The player in offside position didn't touch the ball..Is this offside or not?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Dimitris,
great clip absolutely GOOD GOAL no offside There WAS a PIOP, but he did not play the ball nor interfere with the opponent. I see the referee overruled and awarded a goal? So well done 100% correct!

Possibly the closeness of the opponent on his knees and the PIOP blocking the AR line of sight, the AR may not be fully aware of the non offside player kicking the ball in. Still if the AR had a suspicion it MIGHT be offside & that perhaps the goal might be tainted, he should not raise the flag but stand at attention which signals the CR to come over & talk as opposed to run up the line & taking a kick off position which would indicate the goal was good. If the AR raises a flag, he is saying with certainty that goal is not good as he is indicating offside based on his true opinion or view! Which we know was incorrect as the referee was correct in awarding the goal. The CR could consider the ARs point of view first, then discount it based on what the CR knew to be true that the AR did not.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dimitris
Not offside. The player in an offside does not touch the ball nor interfere with an opponent so under Law 11 it is not offside.
What caused the furore was in my opinion incorrect mechanics by the assistant referee. Had he not signalled the offside and just stood there without signalling the goal the referee would have seen that something was not right and gone across to speak with him. In that conversation the AR would have informed the referee that there was a player in an offside position but he was unsure if he touched the ball or not. The referee then decides based on what he saw which is in fact what happened subsequently .
In this situation it looks like the AR has given offside and then changes his mind which is never a good position to be in. That caused him to be mobbed immediately by the scoring team and then mobbed by the defending team.
Here is an AR doing the mechanics correctly yet gets the decision wrong as the AR is dependant on the CRs view of the incident rather than the side on view.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fR1cmg3YgkY
Note that the scoring team did not have to mob him, there were appeals from a distance for offside by the goalkeeper and then play promptly restarted.
Obviously the decision has to be ultimately right but mechanics can help the officials manage the game.