Question Number: 16189

Law 11 - Offside 8/2/2007

RE: rec Adult

martin of dunedin, otago new zealand asks...

I coach a team and the following 2 scenarios were given to me Team A have a goal kick and the taker manages to launch a ball well into team B's half where a team A striker standing in a technically offside position I.e. behind team B defenders facing their goal, receives the ball and scores. Is this a goal?

The second version is team A take a goal kick and the keeper fails to connect properly and the ball goes straight to the team B striker standing outside team A's box he is the nearest player to the team A goal being in front of all team A players bar their keeper .The team B striker scores.This I understand is a goal, but please can you clarify.

One other question I have been asked is can an attacking player stand outside the box but behind the ball(goal side) when the opposition have a goal kick??? I saw a player from an opposition team in a game recently stand deliberately outside the penalty box near to the dead ball line and the ref didn't do anything. It wasn't he was slow coming back as later in the game (it was very windy and the keeper was struggling with dead ball kicks), the team were deploying 2 players either side of the box, more or less level with the ball. This went unchallenged and seemed to put pressure on the keeper whose kicking got worse!

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

(1) There is no offside offense on a goal kick. It is one of the 3 exceptions noted in Law 11. The goal counts.

(2) If the opponent was standing outside the penalty area (I'm not sure what "box" you mean) and intercepts the ball after it has left the penalty area, he can play it. If he scores, the goal counts. There is no offside consideration as the ball is received from an opponent's deliberate play, not from a teammate's touch.

(Other) Players on the same team as the kicker may stand wherever they choose, but cannot play the ball until it exits the penalty area. All opponents must be anywhere outside the penalty area.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Referee Voshol nails the information as always. I would like to add that a goal kick is not treated the same as a penalty kick for the purposes of where players may stand during its commission. In a PK situation, all players except the keeper and kicker must be behind the penalty mark (12 yards from the goal line), outside of the penalty area and penalty arc. As Gary noted, on a goal kick, all attacking players must be completely outside of the penalty area (the one that measures 18 yards from the goal line) and may not play the ball until all of the ball has crossed the penalty area line. If they play it too soon, we retake the goal kick. And there is no offside issue directly from a goal kick. The placement of the players you noted is fine for the kick coming out of the penalty area, but the very next touch of the ball by a player on their own team might find such players in an offside position and of no use to their team. Of course if the next play is off of a defending player, then the attacking players can still play! Interesting scenario - guess it rattled the keeper.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

1. There is no offside offence if the ball is received directly on a goal kick, throw-in, or corner kick so this would be a goal. It matters not where the striker was positioned as long as he received the ball directly from the goal kick. 2. If you are thinking an offside possibility here, forget it. Offside is ONLY judged when the ball is played or touched by a TEAMMATE. As long as Team B striker waited until the ball cleared Team A's penalty area, he is free to shoot. 3. All opponents must remain outside the penalty area on any free kick coming out of the opponent's penalty area and this includes the goal kick. It matters not where they stand so, yes, they can be goalside of the ball. It is NOT an offence to be in offside position so they may stand in offside position as long as they like. They just will not be allowed to become actively involved in play if the ball is played or touched by a teammate. The referee did nothing in your example because the players probably weren't doing anything other than standing there or walking back slowly. Again, it is not an offence to be in offside position.