Question Number: 16066

Law 11 - Offside 7/18/2007

RE: All Other

Steve of Tiburon, CA USA asks...

Watching the Czech/Austria U-20 semifinal. On the Czech 2nd goal, the Czech central forward is clearly in an offside position when the ball is played from the midfield to another forward on the wing. The central player stops and is passed first by the ball out on the wing, then by the player on the wing who catches up with it, and then by at least one defender.

The player on the wing crosses the ball to the central player, who scores.

At one point does the central player regain on onside position? He does not move from the position he was in when at the time he was in an offside position...the run of play puts him back in an onside position by the time he gets it.

Thank you. (You've probably answered something like this before, but couldn't find it in the past answers.)

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Offside is "reset" every time a teammate touches the ball. If at the next touch you are no longer in an offside position, you may proceed to play. Offside can also be reset by an opponent controling the ball.

As a referee you should know this. It's basic to the certification course.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Offside position is judged every time the attack touches the ball and this makes it something that can change very quickly. I used to love being in an obvious offside position on the other side of the field. A team mate would run the ball past me then make the cross. Invaribly the defenders would still have their arms up showing how well they refereed. I loved it because at the moment the ball was LAST touched by my colleague I was not offside and defenders standing with their arms raised were easy to beat. Any bets that's what happened?

Regards,