Question Number: 17997

Law 11 - Offside 11/25/2007

RE: Select Under 12

Denis of Palos Verdes, CA US asks...

Players A and B are attacking. Player A has the ball wide on the left side of the field and player B is in an offsides position, beyond the next to last defender and ahead of the ball, wide to the right away from the play. Player A beats the next to last defender and takes a shot from the corner of the 18. The goalkeeper blocks the shot and the ball deflects to the other side of the field, in front of Player B who shoots from inside the 18 and scores.

The AR called offsides as Player B touched the ball and the goal was waived off, free kick in the other direction. Was this the right call?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Denis,
offside position, lose the (s).
The key moment in this senario?
Was player B in an offside position WHEN the shot is taken by player A?
It appears there is no second last opponent so the BALL Position when it was last touched by player A becomes the focal point. WAS player B closer to the opposing goal line than the ball when player A last sends the ball towards the goal?

If this was the case then the rebound of the ball off the keeper after the save player B is quilty of gaining an advantage and an INDFK out from where player B was at the time of the shot by player A. Not where the rebound was played by player B!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Denis, please ask yourself where was your second player when the shot was taken. You must have that information before coming to a conclusion about offside. Perhaps the referee had the information, perhaps he didn't. It is irrelevant where the player is in his offside position once the other player beats the last but one opponent and touches the ball again. When that happens you must know if the player sho didn't take the shot was in an offside position or not. Once that information is known a meaningful determination regarding offside can be made. I'd be willing to guess you were watching the shot and not the other player. Watching him is the assistant referee's job. He is the only person on the planet who can watch and advise the referee to sanction for offside or allow the goal.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

You correctly described B being in an offside position. But you didn't precisely tell us *when* B was there. Was it at the time of A's shot? If so, when B played the ball after a rebound from the goalkeeper, he was indeed offside. The last bullet point of Law 11 Decision 2 says, "Gaining an advantage by being in that position means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or the crossbar having been in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position."