Question Number: 13121

Law 11 - Offside 6/21/2006

RE: ex pro Adult

david humphreys of joburg, gauteng south africa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 1965

is it not true that the new interpretation pf offside is that there has to be a clear space however small between attacker and defender to be considerd offside

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi David,
what you just stated is a HUGE MYTH and unfortunately is still being perpetuated.

OFFSIDE POSITION is determined by the location of the playable body parts of the attacking player in relationship to either the 2nd last defender or the ball and the defending goalline.

Decision 1

In the definition of offside position, "nearer to his opponents' goal line" means that any part of his head, body or feet is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent. The arms are not included in this definition.

What is an unstated part of the offside law is when in DOUBT do not wave it about. In otherwords when the eye can not CLEARLY interpret the sound of the ball being kicked and the movement of players running in opposing directions we give the benifit of attacking play by keeping our flag down.
I suggest you read Q@A 13117 which gives additional detail! Cheers

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

David as Ref Dawson explains nothing has changed in the determination of offside since 1994/91 time frame. 1991 saw the concept of even begin and in 1994 we saw the area of active play and no offence to be in an offside position.

The term "no nearer to the opponent's goal line" means just that, no nearer. If any part that can score a goal is nearer there is offside position, given the other two criteria met. If the assistant is able to conclusively determine relative position to the millimeter then he is obligated to flag for offside with a player's nose that far beyond the last but one defender. No air space needed here, except in the minds of some radio and television commentators.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

This is not true. A players position is determined by the closest part of his body (other than hands) to the goal line. As Always,