Question Number: 35699

Law 11 - Offside 9/15/2024

RE: Grassroots Adult

Bob of West Bridgewater , MA Usa asks...

Red player A is in position of the ball and in the attacking half. Red player B is in an offside position when player A kicks the ball forward. Player B is facing away from player A and is struck square in the back by the ball. Player B has made no attempt to play the ball, they were only struck from behind by the ball. Has an offside offense taken place here?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Bob,
YES it has!
It does not matter, if player B was RESTRICTED due to their position and thus a PIOP, be it accidental or on purpose, he has interfered with play by the physical touch and it is an INDFK from that point of contact!

Funnily enough as long as a PIOP makes NO physical contact and does not interfere with any opponent, if he actually -deliberately- tried to contact the ball and whiffed a strike, like the ball bobbled /hopped over his foot as he tried to contact it but missed or he slide to poke it into goal but got there late and it was already in the goal over the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar! There is no infraction present and in the slide action the goal would count to restart kick off.
The reverse of that, is if say the PIOP was by the goal and not interfering with any opponent and realized the ball was headed into the goal -KNOWING- he was offside, he ducks out of the way but the ball accidently brushes him just before it enters the goal. Oops no goal! INDFK out even if that ball would have wound up in the net regardless of the PIOP.

This highlights that ONCE a player is restricted as a PIOP nothing they do on their own will reset that restriction. To reset offside restriction, the ball goes out of play, the opposition gain clear control, or a new team mate touches the ball after the PIOP has assumed a non offside position.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Bob
Thanks for the question.

It makes no difference if the contact is accidental or not. Once the player in an offside position makes contact with the ball it is offside for interfering with play.

At an extreme the player could be laying on the ground in an offside position and if the ball makes contact with the prone player on a through ball offside will be called.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Bob,
For an offside offence to occur, two conditions must be fulfilled. Firstly the player must have been in an offside position at the time of the last touch of the ball by teammate and secondly the player must then become involved in active play by either touching the ball or interfering with an opponent.

In the scenario you have described, both conditions are met. The player was in an offside position at the relevant time and the player has then touched the ball. It makes no difference what the nature of the contact was, all that is required is for the ball to touch the player.