Question Number: 17230

Law 11 - Offside 10/10/2007

RE: Select Under 17

Ken Huss of Lenox, MI Macomb asks...

Offside Hypothetical question.

I know this is a stretch but it is the only situation where I can ask if the referee has the discretion to waive off an offsides if deemed the defender purposely tried to include an non included player that would otherwise not interfere with the play.

Say two players are in on the keeper alone and since player A is ahead of player B, player A turns to the side and runs out of the play to make sure he is not considered interfering. If the goalkeeper decides that his chances of saving the breakaway are slim and decides rather than attempt to save the breakaway he decides to give chase to player A who is moving away thus demonstrating to the ref that for some reason he thought the player was going to be passed to. At the moment the keeper gives chase this leaves an open goal the player shoots and scores, obviously if player B is thinking quickly enough they could dribble past the player nullifying the offsides however most kids would just shoot as soon as the goal is open. Does the referee have the leeway to
award the goal, even though by chasing the offsides player he purposely caused the non interfering player to interfere. Trust me I know this situation may never happen but it is the only situation I can think of where a defender or keeper could try to circumvent the offside rule for what it is intended which is to not penalize a player not involved. Sorry for the length of the question I couldn't think of a way to explain it simpler.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Coach understanding offside means not having to read in many variables beyond being in an offside position and either interfering or not interfering. You make the statement a player is "otherwise not interfer"[ing]. That ends the decision making process. He has not committed an offside offence. His opponents have chosen to play the way they did given the only action on his part was moving away. They cannot make a player commit an offence, he has to do it all by himself. He didn't.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

If I see this in a game, wait for ball to enter goal, whistle if needed, point to the center circle for the kick off and award the goal (of course, if the attacker missed an open goal, I can only award a goal kick). I cannot correct for mistakes defenders make, and the goalkeeper, by chasing a non-participating attacker, has made a potentially fatal mistake for his team.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The attacking team is not responsible for the stupidity of the keeper. While the keeper is free to ignore a player with the ball and go mark an offside player, the attacking team is not penalized for it.