Question Number: 16177

Law 11 - Offside 7/31/2007

bobby of toronto, canada asks...

team A player is offside makes no attempt at ball played near him team B goalie passes to his defender, defender moves up with ball as team A attacker still walking up field behind 2nd last man. defender with ball passes back to keeper not knowing attacker still there, attacker plays ball. should this be flagged as offside? since attacker gained advantage being in that position i would say yes but not 100% sure

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Bobby Bobby Bobby think a bit here<
Who was in CONTROL and possession of the ball???
The opposition!
Who last touched/played the ball???
The opposition!
What does the FIRST line of law 11 say??
It is NOT an offence to be soley offside positioned!!
So if he guilty of anything, it is being extremely lucky that his opponent gifted him a free shot on goal through a mistake that had nothing to do with his offside position!
Conclusion?
NO offside, you can be 100% sure!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

A well-respected authority on the Laws of the Game likes to say that the Laws were not written to make up for the mistakes of the players. And that's exactly what this defenseman has done - made a mistake in not knowing where his opponents were placed on the field.

When A is in an offside position when the ball was last touched by a teammate, he cannot take part in play. However as Ref Dawson has pointed out, the opposition was in full control of the ball. They had the last touch/play on it, so offside no longer applies to A.

Gaining an advantage is not just having things work out favorably for you. It is very narrowly defined in the Laws of the Game. From Law 11 Decision 2: "Gaining an advantage by being in that position means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position."

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Remember to "gain advantage" as an offside infraction the player must be in an offside position when the ball last touches a member of his own team. In your case there can be no "gaining an advantage by being in that position" there is only gaining a goal based on a defender with low situational awareness. The goal is usually celebrated just as vigorously as one hard won.

Regards,