Question Number: 34346

Law 11 - Offside 9/22/2021

RE: Competitive Adult

Mark Flynn of Glendale, AZ United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 34345

Thanks for the excellent replies gentlemen. I am now leaning even more to the wrong call being made. In this clip, the mexican defender blocks and the ball is deflected into the net. Now imagine if there was a US player in an offside position, and the ball deflected to her rather than in the goal. That's basically what happened in my case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHFZ_Wx8pTo

Cheers, Mark

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Mark,
possibly, you are certainly entitled to an opinion, but given the referee overruled the AR flag and allowed the goal the CR MUST have felt it was NOT a deliberate save where without such action a goal WOULD or could have occurred.

The action i your video was a deliberate play by the defender, no doubt about it, she was challanging the attacker for that ball. There was a keeper and a defender who might also figure in the save potential so it is plausable this was not seen as a deliberate SAVE only as a deliberate play to challange the opponent which RESETS the PIOPS restrictions.

Now take away the keeper and that other defender, put that ball off the leg with 100% certainty it was on its way into into the goal without that inrevention and the ball goes wide it falls favourably to a PIOP then yes an INDFK out is certaintly correct.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Mark,
I think the clip you have chosen illustrates the quandary inherent in many of these scenarios. The commentators on this clip keep using the word deflection. However as mentioned, the problem with many of these decisions is that the same incident, while some might call it a deflection, could still contain strong elements of being a deliberate play. In the example here it is still the case that had the ball gone to an offside-positioned American player the referee could have decided that this was a deliberate play of the ball by the Mexican defender and an OPP receiving the ball would then not have been guilty of an offside offence.

On the other hand, another referee might potentially have decided that this was indeed a deflection and that an offside-positioned teammate would have been guilty of an offside offence on touching the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mark
I am off the opinion here that the contact here is a deliberate play. It has most if not all the elements of a deliberate play and had the ball gone to a player in an offside position it could easily have been considered a reset of offside.
Here is a flag that is incorrect in my opinion
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eXPXyAabR8A
The header by the Green defender was not a deflection yet rather a deliberate play. It is unclear from the video what happened as the AR quickly drops the flag. If offside was awarded it was incorrect in my opinion.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 34348