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- Soccer Referee Questions on Soccer Rules
You-Call-It 21 Question...An offside striker JOHN is on the far right touch line is racing after a team-mate's through ball in behind our smug 2nd last opponent! Who content the elaborate step up trap play has worked, is standing with the arm raised clearly expecting the AR to raise the flag or the referee to whisle play dead! No other player or team-mate is in pursuit of the ball!
JUst before the offside player is about to touch the ball. An alert team mate yells, "JOHN you are offside! Stop!"
John pulls up a short distance away and does not touch the ball .
Now an onside attacker runs by the 2nd last opponent who furious at the no call, now pursues the onside attacker running to that ball.
Our offside player John is now running into the goal area as he realizes his onside team mate will easily get to the ball ahead of the opponent.
The opponent pursuing the ball at first now ran to cover John because in NO way was he ever going to get to the ball ahead of the onside player!
All the while screams of offside are being yelled by the defending side.
The 2nd last opponent positions himself in between John and the onside attacker with the ball. The onside attacker now delivers a cross and John now in an onside position when the cross comes heads it home for a goal!
Good goal?
Our HintRead Jim Allen's interpretation of IFAB's Interpretations at the ussoccer website.
Read LOTG Interpretations 2009-2010 on OffsideOur Answer...John's goal is fine, restart kick off!
It is ALWAYS a bad idea for a defender to assume a flag will be the signal shown for offside in as much as it is also a stupid idea to stand still with your arm raised as if asking to go to the bathroom.
The referee?s whistle signals that play will be stopped not a raised flag.
In the scenario described NO whistle sounded!
There was a possibility that play COULD have been stopped as FIFA states, "A player in an offside position (A) **MAY** be penalized**BEFORE** playing or touching the ball, if, in the OPINION of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball."
However, *MAY* is an option NOT a command!, we are constantly urging new officials of the WAIT and SEE aspect to be ABSOLUTELY sure rather than quickly derail attacking opportunities by too early flags and whistles! The March 29th USSF memo on their position on interfering with play is a physical touch of the ball/player MUST occur, thus they have eliminated the *MAY* part, HOWEVER, if there is interfering with an OPPONENT the *BEFORE* part is still quite feasible.
In this situation the player who ULTIMATELY participated in actively playing the ball was an onside team mate of Johns not John! The fact that the defender CHOSE to watch rather than initially participate then poorly choose to wander and follow JOHN who DID NOT ACTIVELY engage in playing the ball was bad defending. That defender could easily have turned and pursued the ball when it was first knocked through but did not do so!
REMEMBER the CHOICES or THOUGHTS of defenders play NO part in an offside decision.
Running towards the ball, although many are inclined to say it is participating in active play, if the ball is NEVER played and the opponent was NEVER denied opportunity to play that ball how is offside vindicated??? Once John's onside team mate actively participated in play and touched the ball, offside is reset and as indicated John is no longer restricted at that moment.
That was our Question YOUR Answer is...AskTheref.com Educating and Amusing The Soccer Referee Since October 11, 1999<-->
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