Question Number: 33369

Law 11 - Offside 5/21/2019

RE: Rec Adult

James cottell of Burton , England asks...

Ive been reading the offside law and wondered why it differentiates between the feet and body?

There must be a specific reason as to why its wrote like that but cant think of any?

Obviously you can lead with your foot/feet in front of you but you can with a knee or your chest also technically, so why is it written- any part of head, body or feet etc?

I can understand why the head is not part of your body but your feet are?

Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi James,
I think you're misreading this. The law is in fact considering the head, body and feet as part of the same whole. They are all treated the same in considering offside position. The only parts of the body that are not considered are the hands and arms. I think it's worded the way it is to avoid the confusion that might arise if they just used the word 'body' as some people could interpret that as meaning the trunk only. By saying 'head, body and feet' they mean everything except the hands and arms.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi James
IFAB when wording the Laws have to take account into how it reads and how it is interpreted. Throw in the world context and wording can have different interpretations particularly on translation.
What the wording means is that every part of the body except the hand and arms are considered in the offside calculation.
As an aside I remember having an interesting debate about kicking the ball to the goalkeeper and what constituted a kick? So there are plenty of wordsmiths out there that need some laws to be spelt out!

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI James while I suppose they could have stated any body part EXCEPT the hands & arms perhaps they choose the wording to separate the various possibilities? A player can lean in closer with the head, a striding player, toe or ankle or a bent over player his butt could be the closest point to the opposing goal line. That closest point is what you see on the telly when they run the imaginary line at the freeze frame of an offside position at the time the ball is last touched by the team mate!
Interesting is they did not consider the hands or arms exempt because they were illegal to deliberately play the ball but because it was thought the referee would not be able to use them as a reference point given they move so quickly. Cheers