Question Number: 16172

Law 11 - Offside 7/31/2007

RE: Other

Nicholas Broderick of Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada asks...

This is only a hypothetical situation that I've been able to come up with in my mind that I hope you can help with:

An attacker (A1) is standing in an offside position when an attempted pass is made to A1. Because the assistant believes that no onside attacker has the opportunity to play the ball, he/she raises her flag to indicate an offside offense. Just as that happens, a defender (D1) prevents the ball from reaching A1 by deliberately handling it, and the ball now falls to a second attacker (A2) who is onside with an attacking opportunity.

The misconduct should be easy to figure out: A caution for D1 for unsporting behavior (preventing an opponent gaining possession of the ball by deliberate handling) and of course no goalscoring opportunity has been foiled as A1 was in an offside position. This caution comes irrespective of the fact that A1 is in an offside position. But what of the restart (if any)? If the moment the flag is raised by the assistant is the moment the offside offense occurs then the defense is awarded an IFK, as it occurred before the deliberate handling by D1. And yes, "A player may be penalized before playing or touching the ball if, in the opinion of the referee, no other teammate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball." (LOTG 2007, pg. 104) But isn't there an implicit assumption in that statement of the inevitability of the offside player(s) becoming involved in active play by touching or playing the ball? If so, then the assistant has been shown to be in error and the referee would allow play to continue via the advantage clause. What do you think? Offside offense or no?

Or better yet, this could be a case where the two offenses are simultaneous, as the deliberate handling to prevent A1 being able to play the ball is coincidental with A1's involvement in active play by "Interfering with an opponent" as this movement to play the ball by D1 is being made due to A1's presence in an offside position. Then we restart with a dropped ball (maybe?)

They all seem like legitimate solutions to me when you look at the letter of the Law. It all seems to depend on when or if A1 becomes involved in active play.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The offside call is made, and the defender is cautioned.

There is a very similar question in the 2006 FIFA Q&A. Although this document is being replaced by the "Additional Information" section of the 2007-8 Laws of the Game, the principle remains the same.

[quote]
12.33 A player is in an offside position and an assistant referee raises his flag. The referee does not see the signal and a defending player denies an opponent an obvious goalscoring opportunity. The referee stops play and only then sees the signal of the assistant referee. What action does the referee take?
a) If he accepts the signal for offside from the assistant referee, he does not send off the defender, since no obvious goalscoring opportunity has occurred. Play is restarted with an indirect free kick to the defending team *. The player may be sanctioned however if, in the opinion of the referee, his action on its own was a cautionable or sending-off offence.
b) If he does not accept that an offside offence has occurred, the defending player is sent off for denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity and play is restarted with a direct free kick * or penalty kick to the attacking team.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Your question: But isn't there an implicit assumption in that statement of the inevitability of the offside player(s) becoming involved in active play by touching or playing the ball?
My answer: No. If the AR raised the flag, she has made the decision based on the situation in front of her that the player in the offside position (not a problem) has now become involved in the play (a problem) either by interfering with play or a player or gaining an advantage from being in that position. The flag doesn't go up if the AR has any questions about involvement. The offside came first, so that was the reason play was stopped, even if the stoppage was delayed momentarily while the AR waited for the involvement to unfold, raised the flag, the referee sees the flag and processes the information and blows the whistle. Defense gets the IDFK and the defender gets a caution for his unsporting behavior.
A dropped ball is absolutely not a good solution in this instance as it cannot be simultaneous offenses. One came first, and that controls the restart.