Question Number: 16399

Law 11 - Offside 8/22/2007

RE: semipro Adult

bobby of toronto, canada asks...

i was an assistant at a game where i didn't signal offside, a goal was scored, but the ref over ruled me and called it back. here is the situation: player A1 in an offside position walking back toward halfway line sees ball rolling at him so opens his legs to allow ball to pass through him (he made no attempt at playing ball, except to avoid it)to avoid being called for offside. as ball passes through his legs player A2 from onside position runs onto the ball and scores. i signal goal ref overruled it saying player A1 was active by moving legs. did i blow the call?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Did you blow it? Not necessarily. You told us that in your opinion A1 didn't play the ball. But you haven't told us whether there were any opponents that were nearby that were disadvantaged by A1's position. Sometimes, players in an offside position are located such that even if they don't move, they are in the way of the opponents. They interfered with the opponent because of their offside position.

You said that you judged no involvement. Evidently the center referee judged that there was involvement. When you are the AR, you assist, not insist. It's the center's call to make or break, with input from you.

Did you ask the ref after the game what he based his decision upon?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Just because the referee waves off your call doesn't mean you blew it - whether you did or not, I admire most your desire to find out, in case you can do better in the future - good on you! As Referee Voshol notes, we really need more information in order to give better advice. If there was no one around the player in an offside position, I find it hard to understand how they could interfere with play if they don't touch the ball. It is possible that your referee isn't as well schooled about offside as you are - but it is his call, his reputation, so don't stress too much - all you can ever do is your best. In one of our in-service clinics a couple of years ago, there was a video of a player who was in an offside position in front of the goal, maybe 18 yards out from the keeper - he knew he was in an OS position and was trying to adjust when a teammate shot. The guy leaped up in the air and the ball went under his legs and into the goal! Although in the game, it was ruled offside, the USSF line was that it was NOT offside! No participation, no interference, no gaining of advantage...how about that! So, sometimes no matter how hard we try to get it right, we blow it. And we learn, and try not to make the same mistakes again. Besides, FIFA is always changing the interpretations, so we really have to stay on our toes!

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Thing about offside Bobby is that it is a very subjective thing unless the offside player touches the ball it isn't all that black and white. Granted one can argue and I have argued this point, a player is either in an offside position or not and he participates or not. That is the key! The difficulty is that some referees consider something as participation and others do not.

Education is the key in getting all referees on the same page and education is something all referees don't want to participate in. You want to get to the bottom of things, good on you!

Right, taken in isolation, this player is in an offside position and does not participate. When I first read the question I saw a lazy attacker walking back with no opponents nearby. This is exactly the situation FIFA and tried to clarify when they added International FA Board Decision 2 to Law 11 a couple summers ago. To some degree there has been clarification. Those of us who understood offside in the first place could readily see this was not a change to the Law, it was just explaining things. Other pundits, television and radio presenters, sport writers and the general public did not have the same opinion of those of us who knew. Now if we put an opponent close by or the offside player is blocking the vision of the goalkeeper we have another problem to iron out, is he actually affecting the play of his opponents? If so we must sanction for offside!

The one who sanctions is the referee and in this case he did. And, he sanctioned without assistance , much to your chagrin. In your opinion you obviously thought he was not interfering with an opponent, the only thing he may do without touching the ball. Fine, good decision. Nothing wrong, at all!

Now to the nitty gritty, did you immediately run to the point of the offside [there was one because the referee gave offside] and signal with your flag the location of the offence? If you didn't you did "blow the call"!!!?!! On this one the referee team MUST have only one opinion so there must be visible agreement between the referee and lead assistant. Without you flagging at the point of the infringement the referee is left out to dry and this is never good for the referee team!

Regards,