Question Number: 17926

Law 11 - Offside 11/15/2007

RE: Select Under 14

Doug Warren of Lake Stevens , WA USA asks...

Free kick is taken from about 40 yards out. Ball is played into penalty area and defender plays ball out, but it is intercepted by attacker that is in offside position who scores. FIFA laws clearly state that it is offside if the ball was deflected from defender. What if it was a controlled pass out of bounds?

I have a protest going on with this call. I believe it was deflected, but the ref says it was a controlled pass.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Doug,
it is a coincidence that my colleagues and I discussed this very concept in a video of a Russian premier league match within the last few weeks only to see this question passed onto our panel for an answer. I will tell you I believe your protest will not stand, for as a fact of play the referee's decision will stand. The ball was last touched/played by the attacker.

I will also tell you straight up I tend to agree with you.
In MY OPINION only I have a difficult time in not finding an offside positioned attacker who intercepts a first time played ball not guilty of offside by definition of gaining an advantage.

Below is an explanation courtesy of your own USSF! Note the very last sentence as a *rule*. It is sure to create a few wrinkled brows!

Deflections by any opposing player do not affect the status of a player in an offside position; the attacking team's player must be called offside if he or she becomes involved in play (as defined in Law 11). Unsuccessfully "making a play" for the ball does not establish possession. Nor, for that matter, does successfully "making a play" for the ball if it then deflects to the player in the offside position who becomes involved in play.

Note that there are differences here between "being involved in play," "playing the ball," and "making a play" for the ball. (As noted above, see Law 11 for involvement in play.) "Playing the ball" in these circumstances means that the defender (in this case the goalkeeper) possessed and controlled the ball. However, if the defender possessed and controlled the ball badly, it's still "making a play," but if it wasn't possessed and controlled, it wasn't played in the sense you suggested in your scenario.

A rule: Being able to use the ball subsequent to contact equals possession; deflection is not possession.
Cheers