Question Number: 35187

Law 11 - Offside 10/28/2023

RE: Pro Professional

William Spalding of Dunfermline , Fife Scotland asks...

Team 1 Player A runs in on the goalkeeper of Team 2.
Team 1 Player B is running slightly behind him.

Team 1 Player A passes the ball forward to the side as he reaches the goalkeeper of Team 2. The goalkeeper doesn’t touch the ball.
Team 1 Player B runs onto the ball and takes his first touch behind the goalkeeper of Team 2 and kicks the ball into the net.

There are no players from Team 2, apart from the goalkeeper, involved in the play - all are behind Team 1 Players A and B at all times.

Is this offside?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI William,
short and sweet, the answer is NO!
There is no offside!

Remember the BALL is the imaginary offside line used to determine positional restrictions when there is no 2nd last opponent in the mix.

IF!!
the following player was BEHIND the ball, thus further away from the opposing goal line than the ball, when his team mate LAST touched the ball.

The fact he comes from an onside position, BEHIND the ball, further away from the goal line he HAS no positional restriction, he is free to be involved, the goal is good.

It is the following players' relationship to the BALL -not- their team mate.
The direction of the pass plays NO part in the decision.
Once restricted you can not put yourself back onside

I do not know if this crude pictorial show up well but if this was the relative position of the two players and the ball to the goal line with no 2nd last opponent of concern

the Vs represent the two players
the small o is the ball
the equal sign = is the opposing goal line

ONSIDE
V - o = player with ball
...V on side player as he is behind or even the ball

OFFSIDE
V - o = player with ball
.......V offside player as he is ahead of the ball

o - V = player with ball
...V offside player as he is ahead of the ball

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi William,
Thanks for your question

Offside position is if Player B is in front (and that means, any part of the body except the arms) of the ball AND past the second last line of defence (usually the sweeper) when Player A touches the ball.

This is reconsidered at every single touch - or to make it simple, we're really concerned with the position when Player A passes the ball.

So while Player B might be past the 2nd last defender, if they're not in front of the ball, they're still onside.

I'll add that the direction the ball is finally passed makes no difference at all - it's the position of the players.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi William
Thanks for the question.
Law 11 tells us that a player is in an onside position behind the ball or if there are two opponents between the player and the goal line.

As described when the ball was played Player B was in an onside position behind the ball so there cannot be any offside. The only way that Player B could stay in an onside position was to stay behind the ball as the two opponents option was not available.

It makes no difference where Player B received or played the ball just location when Player A played the ball which as you described was slightly behind Player A so most likely behind the ball.