Question Number: 16550

Law 11 - Offside 9/5/2007

RE: x Adult

Ali Aksoy of Istanbul, IST Turkey asks...

Is the rule for being in active play by distraction still in effect?
In Turkish league an offside was called because of a player who seemed active but did not touch the ball. Some TV commentators said he could not be called offside as the actual scorer was onside , that the active play rule was changed recently. Is this true??

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Ali you have made a HUGE error!! You actually listened to a sports commentator on the tele and thought he knew what he was talking about, HUGE mistake.

There have been no changes to Law 11 since July 1995 when "active play" stuff came in. Bottom line is this: it is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position. An offside player must interfere with play [touch the ball], interfere with an opponent [get in his way or his line of sight] or gain advantage from his offside position [the ball deflects off the goal, goalkeeper or another opponent to him]. These things were explained in International FA Board Decision 2 to Law 11 a couple years ago.

It is possible the offside player interfered with the line of sight of the opposing goalkeeper. It is also possible the offside player prevented an opponent from making a play on the ball by being in the way.

Thanks for trusting us to sort out what someone on the tele has pontificated. It truly seems like those guys get paid by the word rather than the accuracy of their utterances.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Ali. As a general rule, ignore most everything you hear from soccer commentators. They are woefully inept as to what constitutes fair or foul play and offside is a great example of their lack of knowledge as to the Laws Of The Game. Read and re-read what Ref Fleischer says as to offside and offside position