Question Number: 14978

Law 11 - Offside 3/12/2007

RE: rec Adult

Luis of Santa Rosa, CA USA asks...

In a recent game, a defender from the opposite team passed the ball back to his goalie without noticing that an offensive player from the other team was between him and the goalie.
The defender was the last player.
The offensive player took the ball and scored.

Does a player in the "offsite" position become eligible when the ball is passed or touched by a defender from the opposite team?
Just wondering.
Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Luis,
a defender's mistake is not forgiven just because an opponent is offside positioned. A deflection might be, (a deflection of the ball off an opponent will not reset or change offside criteria) but a controled posession of the ball as in your case was a gift, the offside positioned attacker should say thank you.
The key in this is two fold,
First
it is NOT an offence to be offside positioned
Second
the ball was NOT last touched by a teammate
Just a minor point, the defender who screwed up was in fact the second last opponent (player) the keeper was the last opponent(player) in this situation. I also suggest you read Ref Fleischer's offside article on our website.
Offside is easy if we do not make it hard!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The solution here is to know when to check for players in offside positions. That time is at the touch of a colleague, any player in an offside position can't be involved until something changes. When an opponent is the one to control and play the ball all offside restrictions are forgiven and offside positioned players are free to accept gifts presented.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

No because the pass did not come from a teammate. The defender established control and passed it to his opponent.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Offside is ONLY judged when the ball is played or touched by a TEAMMATE. Once the ball has been played by a teammate, the opponents must control the ball to reset offside. In your example, the opponents clearly controlled the ball so no offside