Question Number: 17950

Law 11 - Offside 11/18/2007

RE: Select Under 17

Bill Bryant of Seattle, WA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 17936

A followup to the following question/answer [17936]:

Law 11 - Offside 11/16/2007
RE: rec Adult

conrado castellanos of quail valley, california usa asks...3 attackers and one is in offside position
there are 3 defenders in line one of the attackers take a shot at goal and one of the defenders deflects the ball right to the offside attacker is this offside?


Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson
If when the team mate TAKES his shot there is an offside positioned team mate who is from that moment restricted from further play, if that deflection of the ball off the opponent comes to him and he plays that ball, it is offside, INDFK out, gaining an advantage per law 11.
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Similar situation to the above in a competitive select BU-15 match but in this case there is one attacker, one onside teammate, and one offside teammate. The first attacker shoots and deflects off a defender to a space between the onside teammate and the offside teammate, both of whom compete for the ball (move toward the ball) with the onside teammate winning the ball, shooting and scoring. As the AR, I call "offsides" because in my mind the offside player clearly entered into play by competing for the ball.

Was I correct?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the player in the offside position interfered in play, then you should make the call. He didn't do that by playing the ball, because you said the onside teammate got to the ball first and shot the goal. Did the offside-positioned player interfere with the opponents in any way - blocking a path or the keeper's sight-line to the ball? If not, your flag should have stayed down. Mere proximity to the ball is not enough.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Bill, your assignment today is to read the recent position paper from USSF on "Offside and Interfering with Play" dated July 26, 2007. It is the authority for Ref Voshol's excellent answer. http://images.ussoccer.com/Documents/cms/ussf/Interfering_with_Play.pdf

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Bill,
Was your call corret? Perhaps not my friend your situation has variables the original question did not.
When there are multiple team mates in pursuit of the ball comprised of onside and offside player(s) in pursuit of the ball we are asked to WAIT until a physical touch of the ball occurs to decide if it was played. Remember when answering a specific question it might not generalize about the what ifs?

That said, if an opponent is interferred with by the offside player in pursuit even prior to an onside player actually touching the ball an offside infringment for interfering with an opponent COULD have occurred before the onside player reached the ball. If there was no offside interference then when the onside player got to the ball and took the shot, we have a new touch of the ball thus a new positional evaluation is needed.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

In dealing with an offside offence the referee must start with the premise that it is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position.

This is especially true when more than one player is making a try for the ball and one is not in an offside position. Here the referee MUST wait for a touch unless he is satisfied an offside positioned player has interfered with an opponent! In the case you relate you mention nothing about an opponent getting involved in any way. Because of that there is NO interfering with an opponent and no offside offence has been committed.

When you called "offsides" you were incorrect. When you raised your flag asking the referee to sanction for offside you were incorrect as well. What I state is based only on what you wrote, should I have been there and seen the interaction of players I might have seen an entirely different set of circumstances and my decision could have been offside too. BUT, I would have to have seen interfered with an opponent, interfered with play or gains an advantage by the player in an offside position before raising the flag and asking for a sanction by the referee.

Regards,

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

See Question: 17966