Question Number: 15573

Law 11 - Offside 5/22/2007

RE: Select Adult

Mark of McFarland, Wisconsin USA asks...

As a general rule, what is proper procedure for an AR to indicate offsides when a player is offsides with the exception of not being actively involved with play?

In a U18/19 game, an attacker was obviously offsides, looked at me (AR), stopped (knowing he was offsides)and I did not raise the flag because he looked like he would not be actively involved in the play. When he saw I had not raised the flag, he went towards the ball, but it was already almost in the keepers hands. (In my opinion, most keepers would rather handle the ball than have an indirect kick).

This happened a second time with the same player. This time, he did not stop or look at me, I delayed my call slightly waiting to see his actions, and raised my flag as he became actively involved. The players coach complained and the Center asked me at half time to make the call quicker.

The problem I have with raising the flag and letting the Center decide if the attacker becomes actively involved, is that there may be more than one attacker for the Center to make the decision about, and the player becoming actively involved may not have been the player offsides. The AR would have a better view of this than the Center.

Yes, this should be a pregame discussion, but there should be a rule of thumb for all Ref's.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The AR does nothing until he believes the player in offside position has become involved in active play. If a player is in an offside position, but not yet involved, then the AR does nothing. Flag up means that the referee should blow whistle and penalize the guilty team.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Mark,
it is very important to understand the first sentence of law 11.
QUOTE "It is NOT an offence in itself to be in an offside position!"
NO flag is raised JUST because of an offside position.
I would relieve any AR who raised the flag solely to indicate offside position.
Now lets examine what you SAW and the reactions by all!

One MAIN reason to consider raising the flag is the possibility of a collision between an offside attacker and an opponent playing the ball, in this case the keeper.
You are spot on in your first reaction NOT to raise the flag!
You are also spot on in recognizing a proper pregame could have sorted this issue out !
If the referee uses a coach?s complaint to instruct an AR the level of competence for that referee has fallen considerably!

In the first instance the delay for the flag can only be maintained up to the point where a collision MIGHT occur and you MUST raise that flag to prevent it! Yes a keeper with ball in hand might be better than a spot kick but keep in mind the restart location is where the offside player was INITIALY and a referee COULD wave you off if he wanted play to continue. you need to gauge the speed of the run by both and whether time is there to pull out of the challenge easily. Remember the offside player may not know he cannot play the ball and thus be unwilling to stop until clear hand possession of the ball by the keeper occurs!

In this case the offside player is guilty of interfering with an opponent even if a non offside player was right there as well. We are instructed to wait for a physical touch of the ball when an on side and an offside player is in pursuit of the ball as regards to interfering with play!

However, it does not rule out that an offside player interferes with an opponent, this includes a possible collision as well as obstructing the opponent?s line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.

You are again spot on the AR usually has a better vision of the offside from a sideways view in rather than a downfield look. The referee must trust the AR to be in the correct position and to make the correct call. If the referee cannot trust in the AR then the game is shot and the referee might as well remove the AR and replace with a linesman for ball in or out!

You say you waited until there WAS actual involvement by the offside player? This says to me you are correct at that time to raise the flag. However, consider the overall position of all participants with regards to a possible collision with an opponent as well as a possible touch of the ball!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Therre is no proper way to indicate a player "offsides". The assistant only indicates when an offside player should be penalised.

Regards,