Question Number: 17517

Law 11 - Offside 10/26/2007

RE: Competetive Under 17

Gary Davies of Harrow, Middlesex asks...

If a player is in an offside position, yet the ball is played backwards to him, is he deemed to be offside.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the ball was played backwards to a player, how was he in an offside position? The first criteria of offside position is being ahead of the ball. No offside position, no offside call.

A possible scenario - the player is 3 yards from the goal line, the ball is 5 yards from the line. It is played back about 10 yards, and the offside positioned player runs back 12 yards to get it. In that case, the offside call should be made.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Gary.
It is not an offence of in its self to be offside positioned.

It also states in law 11 the 2nd last opponent and or the ball!

It also states in law 11 who must do what and where and when criteria is applied

If an opponent passes the ball back to his keeper and it is intercepted by an offside positioned player as the ball was not last played by a team mate the offside positioned player is gifted a rare opportunity to score a goal courtesy of an opponent's mistake.

As Ref Voshol points out offside positioned players can move in any direction including returning to their own half to retrieve a ball and still be considered offside if the player was offside positioned when the pass or last touch of the ball by the team mate occurred.

Even if no 2nd last defender is in the equation, if the ball is closer to the opposing goal when a team mate plays the ball away from that opposing goal line back towards centre any of his players that were not ahead of that ball are free to receive it .
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

He cannot be in an offside position if the ball was played backwards to him. Remember the 3 requierments to be in an offside position. 1. Closer to goal line than the 2nd last defender, 2. Closer to goal line than ball, and 3. On attacking half. If the ball was played backwards by a teammate, then the player was NOT in an offside position. If the ball was played backwards by an opponent, then the player cannot be offside as a defender established control of the ball.