Question Number: 16168

Law 11 - Offside 7/31/2007

RE: Competitive Under 15

Angelo Cristofanilli of Montreal, Quebec Canada asks...

In regards to rule 11.

In a situation where a goalkeeper leaves her 18 yard zone to act as a last defender, but remains within her half of the field while all her teammates are all at the attacking end; can you confirm that an opponents offensive player positioned direct in front of the goalkeeper (within the attacking zone) would be offside when receiving a pass?

Is this a legal trap?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Angelo,
YES assuming the ball location is of course not at issue;
the attacking player is within the opposing half and
the last touch of the ball by the team mate occurs from further away the opposing goal line then the attacking player's current position within the opposing half.

Whether the keeper is on the goal line or just inside the midline
ALWAYS consider the KEEPER as but one of 11 opponents and that TWO oponents and or the location of the ball closer to the oppossing goal line are the consideration factors for positional offside placement by the opposing team!

A keeper is USUALLY the last defender as a result of the job requirement but can move forward at any time to change that distinction. The keeper has NO SPECIAL status when it comes to offside determination just another body to be accounted for! The 18 yard penalty area is where the keeper'sspecial use of the hands occurs

You also need to remember that onside players can run into offside looking positions AFTER a ball is on the move but NO infringement is considered as nothing illegal has occurred.

For example in your situation the onside player could be within his own half when the team mate kicks the ball into the opposing keeper's half! Then the attacker runs across the midline to get to the ball ahead of the keeper, dribbles the ball around the keeper then kicks the ball into the goal for a perfectly good goal!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

I can only confirm that a player nearer his opponent's goal line than the ball and the last but one opponent or the last two opponents is in an offside position if he is in his attacking half. I am not familiar with the 18 yard and attacking zones you mention.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Offside position is defined simply - closer to the goal line than the ball, closer to the goal line than the second to last opponent, and in the attacking half of the field. Once the 3 parameters for offside position are established, the player cannot become involved in play when the ball is last touched or played by a teammate.

It doesn't matter which opponents are inside or outside any kind of zones. It is the relationship of the attacking player to the opponents and ball. Usually one of the 2 opponents is the goalkeeper, but that is not a requirement.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Angelo, it is a trap only if the players don't understand the Laws of the Game. As my fellow posters noted, if the requirements for being onside (at least two opponents between him and the goal, he's behind the ball or he's in his own half of the field) aren't met, then the player A is in an offside position. The fact that the keeper is out of the penalty area (what you term the 18 yard zone, so called because it measures 18 yards from the goal line to the top of the area) is irrelevant. In your scenario, if the ball is passed to the attacking player A from a teammate B, then he is offside and cannot play the ball. If the pass comes from a defender on the opposing team, then we aren't concerned with offside any more and the player A can play the ball. No traps, just understanding of the requirements of the Law.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

A player is in an offside position if he is closer to goalline than the 2nd last defener and ball. Also, the player must be on attacking half of field. If the player is right in front of keeper and all other defenders are on attacking half, then yes he would be in offside position. He would be penalized though only if he got involved in play.