Question Number: 16713

Law 11 - Offside 9/16/2007

RE: Select Under 16

Gary Morgan of Culpeper, VA USA asks...

Hi, I am researching the details of just what "involved in active play" means with regards to offside, specifically the wording of Law 11 "Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball...". Even more specifically with the single word "playing." I understand the examples of how a player in an offside position can avoid being considered "involved;" I am more concerned about what action is considered "playing the ball." Scenario: An offensive player plays the ball forward to open space. A teammate (who was in an offside position at the time the ball was kicked) gives chase, as do some defenders. My education and experience has always been to raise the flag when the offside-positioned player gives chase, as he is now playing the ball. Also, he is interfering with play by making the opponents react to his movements. A coach, as well as Q&A#8 on FIFA website, indicated I must wait for the offside-positioned player to TOUCH the ball before the flag goes up. Do I need to readjust my thinking?

And the follow-on, of course: The offside-position player gives chase and NO defender reacts. The offside-position player scampers after the ball without touching it all the way to the corner, then kicks the ball across the goal area. I'm being told to hold the flag until the player TOUCHES the ball, which sounds incorrect to me since the player moved to play the ball from an offside position.

I request your consideration of this point, thank you very much.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There have been several elucidations on offside participation in the last few years, because of misconceptions just like yours.

You are correct that normally we wait for a player to touch the ball before determining he is involved in play. There are some times when that does not apply - when a collision with an opponent is possible or when the offside-positioned player is the only one capable of playing the ball. In cases like those, we flag earlier. That avoids the time used in your scenario where the player follows the ball all the way to the corner before crossing it back into the goal area.

In another one of your scenarios, you have defenders giving chase in response to the offside-positioned player's movement. While this is not yet playing the ball, it is interfering with an opponent. When the opponents have to react to the player's movements, that is involvement.

The biggest example of waiting for a touch occurs when two teammates are chasing down a ball, one of whom was onside and the other offside-positioned. In that case we do have to wait for a touch, or at least for the situation to resolve to see if the offside-positioned player will be the only one able to get to the ball.

These IFAB decisions and all the interpretations came about because far too many referees were making offside calls if the player in an offside position did so much as twitch. Too many referees were forgetting the first line of Law 11 - it is not an offense to be in an offside position. What it means to participate in play has been, and I assume will continue to be, refined. Personally I thought the Q&A answer that the player MUST touch the ball was overboard, but it certainly did call attention to IFAB's instructions and definitions.

The USSF publication Advice to Referees has further instruction on this manner. It is currently in the final stages of review and publication of the 2007 version will soon occur. Several of the sections on offside involvement have been rewritten to better reflect how this offense should be called.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Another way to look at an offside offence is to determine if the offside player running to the ball is going to give up on it. When you have the opinion he isn't going to quit then the offence of interferes with play has happened. Flag at that time.

Where the assistant or the referee for that matter should be very careful is when there are a number of players moving for the ball and at least one is able to play the ball. Here we must wait for the touch because if the player not in an offside position gets there and touches first play is supposed to continue. There remains interfering with an opponent but who's to say the opponents are reacting to the offside players or the one able to play the ball?

When a player gives chase and the assistant raises the flag he have acted too soon because the offside player may, at any time, give up his quest for the ball and revert to his offside position without activity toward the ball. Wait until you're convinced he isn't going to quit or there is the chance of a collision between him and the keeper.

Regards,

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 16775