Question Number: 15530

Law 11 - Offside 5/19/2007

RE: rec ayso Under 15

bill lewis of clearfield, utah usa asks...

today i was running sideline. the ball was kicked and pasted the last deffender. then after the ball had pass the def. then the off. had 2 players run past the def. so now its a 2 on 1 ( keeper and 2 off. players ) the off. player 1 reached the ball and i did not call offside. i did however call offside after the off. player 1 decided to pass to off. player 2. in my mind that is what made the play offside. did i call that right?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Bill, you say you are a referee. What were you taught in your beginning ref class about offside? Please review that information before you referee any more games.

You said neither player was in an offside position at the time the ball was initially kicked downfield. They both passed the defenders, and one of them recovered the ball. All good so far.

Then you say #1 passed the ball to #2. At the time of #1's last touch on the ball, was #2 in an offside position? There's 3 parts to offside position, all of which must be met. (1) In the attacking half - yes. (2) Closer to the goal line than the 2nd to last opponent - yes. (3) Closer to the goal line than the ball - you didn't say.

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Was the teammate who received the pass closer to the goal line than the ball at the time it was passed to him?

You should really know this though, I would brush up on Law 11. In fact, I would suggest you might like to take some time to review the entire law book, a few times.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

It all matters where the attacker was at THE TIME HIS TEAMMATE TOUCHED THE BALL. Think of it as taking a snap shot picture as soon as the attacker touches the ball. Was the attacker that got involved in play offside at this exact moment?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

At the time of the last touch by the attack where were the other attackers in relation to the ball, ahead = offside; even or behing = not offside. You don't tell us that.

Regards,