Question Number: 15078

Law 11 - Offside 3/29/2007

RE: Under 15

adrian horn of ipswich, suffolk england asks...

Hi,i am an assistant referee for my son's team and have a scenario for you.I have seen on this site how if the ball rebounds off an opponent it is deemed offside(gaining an advantage ect.),however i would like to know what happens if the attacker is onside the moment the ball is played by a team mate,but whilst the ball is in the air he moves offside ,the ball then rebounds off the foot/head of a defender and goes through to the atacker now in an offside position,is this offside or not.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Adrian,
The simple answer is NO! Not offside.

Offside position is established as part one
Offside involvement is considered part two
Offside infringement require both for the offside criteria to be in effect

ONLY at the moment the ball is LAST TOUCHED by the teammate and only if a player is in fact offside positioned at the EXACT moment is part one in effect. If the player is not offside at that moment we must wait until the next touch of the ball by a teammate before we examine the criteria once again

The DEFLECTION of a ball off an opponent does not CHANGE the circumstances that existed before the deflection.
Since no offside criteria were in effect BEFORE the opponent deflected the ball no offside criteria are in effect after the deflection.
The DEFLECTION of a ball off an opponent does not CHANGE part one ( last touched by a teammate) because there is no controlled possession by the opponent that is why it is called gaining an advantage as the ball contact changes nothing of the offside criteria which remain in effect IF there was an offside positioned player

In your case part one is NEVER an issue because when the ball was last touched by his teammate he was ONSIDE.
Offside criteria were NEVER in effect

Simply running into an offside position from an onside position is not an offence EVER!

Receiving the ball off an opponent in an offside position COULD appear to be an infringement because the perception of an offside positioned player is involved in play but the positional part of offside requires a touch of the ball by a teammate to MAKE it part one!

The ball in flight and players running in opposing directions much distance and positional changes will occur up until that ball is next touched which is why I always try to encourage offside view as a still frame picture in a moving video.
You stop frame the moment the ball is last touched by the teammate.
Here you declare who is and who is not offside positioned as part one. If no one is offside positioned then all players can play the ball and since no part one is in effect when part two occurs later there still is no infringement.
I advise you to read Ref Fleischer's offside synopsis on the front webpage for a good overview.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

If he is onside at the moment the ball touches his teammate, then he is NOT in an offside position and NO POSSIBLE OFFSIDE CALL can be made. We do not judge the offside position when ball is in air, but at moment ball touches that players teammate. When the ball touches a new teammate, then we evaluate the offside position again.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

If a player is not in an offside position at the moment the ball is touched or is played by one of his own side he can commit no offside offence, whether he, subsequently, runs to an offside position of not.

Reason?

Offside is a two part offence, position and participation:

Position is judged first and if position there can be no participation without penalty.

If position and no participation there is no offence.

If no position there is no offence.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

No No No!!! Offside is ONLY judged at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate. After that instance, it matters not where the player goes. So, if onside when the ball was played, he remains onside until offside resets. If offside when ball is played, he CANNOT put himself onside. He may not become involved in play until off side resets and he must then be onside if the ball is played or touched by a teammate in order for him to be allowed to participate in play.