Question Number: 35158

Law 11 - Offside 10/15/2023

RE: Elite Development Players Under 16

Chester of Fairfield, Ct USA asks...

An AR was flagging for offside at the half way line because a player in an offside position there was running towards the ball after a teammate passed a long ball down to the goal line. The referee would wait to make sure that no other attacking teammate was going to get to the ball and the offside player wasn't going to stop, then blow the whistle. Where is the restart, back up field where the AR is standing near the half way line, or 30 yards deeper where the ref made the decision and then blew the whistle? If deeper, should the AR have run down field and then raised the flag...or flagged it at the half way line then run down to point to the spot, near, middle or far side...or something else entirely?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Chester.
this is the one aspect of offside interpretation that, in my opinion, runs contrary to the actual description of offside involvement.

The PIOP is considered to have interfered with play even though a PHYSICAL touch of the ball has NOT occurred but based on the fact the PIOP is the ONLY one who has a chance to touch/play the ball .

Given these type of restarts are not what I would call BLADE of GRASS restarts where the location / ball placement is critical to outcome, this is more, lets just get play restarted as quick as we can.

The theory is , in the opinion of the referee, there is not the slightest doubt the PIOP WILL play this ball 1st , before ANY other player could realistically do so. Plus we are 100% sure there is no chance of the ball exiting the FOP into touch over the touchline or goal line before the ball would be played!

You need to be realistic, to determine with 100% accuracy the PIOP is involved. Say the PIOP slipped and fell or a team mate called him off, aware the INDFK could occur if the PIOP kept after it, or it was fast paced and possibly could exit the FOP?

Opposing players get irritated that we allow the PIOP to run all that way of a ball they can not play , claiming by their decision to follow they are being interfered with, just as the PIOP is upset that he wasted all that effort, so the early flag saves a bit of time if not a bit of grief dissent Personally as AR I follow the 2nd last opponent and once the ball itself had gone past to be closer to the goal line I follow the ball and await a physical touch by any PIOP, doubly sure he 100% would indeed run on to it with NO other possibility.

Where issues COULD be problematic is if the ball is headed out towards touch or goal line from a DEFLECTION off the defender. which as we know does not auto RESET the PIOP restriction. You pop a flag and the PIOP pulls up and the ball exits for a throw or a corner are we SURE he was GOING to get here? That was a throw or corner for the attack? Mind you if the ball headed off the FOP was a defending restart as is the INDFK out that consideration may not be as critical yet a restart from the mid third as opposed to way back in the defending third is a considerable distance.

I can only surmise at the reasoning that this will save us a few seconds of time to restart slightly farther up the FOP then the AR moving further down towards the opposing goal line to the point it ACTUALLY could be touched. As offside is a two part equation, the 2nd part is the point of involvement. The AR could arbitrarily point to the exact spot it might have occurred or designate an approximate location to indicate the PIOP was unwavering in the effort to get to that ball.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Chester
When Law 11 was changed IFAB wanted the IDFK to be taken from where the offence happened that is the location where the second part of the offence took place namely the touch or interfering with an opponent. That was to bring Law 11 in line with all other offences.
Most times it is not an issue as the interfering with play or an opponent happens at the location of the raised flag. The outlier is the early flag when an AR decides that no other player can interfere so the offence is called. Law 11 is not clear yet if the referee waits until the ball is touched before calling the offence then that should be the location of the IDFK. It is probably a lack of clarity of instructions between the referee and an assistant when it happens.
The pregame talk should bring clarity to this with both the referee and assistant on the same page.
I saw one recently in an international game where an AR raised the flag early for offside on a through ball towards a PIOP which went out for a goal kick. The referee signaled for a goal kick which was the correct decision.
Perhaps therein lies is the answer. Play to the whistle which includes the ARs running.

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

See Question: 35163