Question:
Law 1 states that “the field of play is divided into two halves by a halfway line”.

Law 11 states that a player is not offside if “he is in his own half of the field of play”.

I assume that I was correct when I flagged two players this past year for having a foot on the halfway line (but not over), since the player (technically) was not in his/her half of the field. However, some seasoned refs told me that having a foot on the half way line should not result in being called offside when that player received a pass.

Help!

USSF answer (April 3, 2008):
Technically, if any part of a player that can legally play the ball is past the midfield line, they are in the opponents’ end of the field and could be in an offside position — depending on the positioning of the opposing players.  That counts head, feet and any other part of the player that can legally play the ball — but certainly not the hands. If the referee finds that this player is in an offside position and becomes actively involved in play from that position after a teammate plays the ball in his or her direction, then he or she should be declared offside.…

Question:
I have never fully understood the Offside Law, I hope you can clarify:

Obviously a player is offside if he receives the ball past the 2nd to last defender, but is he also considered offside if he receives the ball before the 2nd to last defender and then dribbles past the defender?

This may have a simple answer, but I have not been able to find it in any book. Thank you in advance for your response

USSF answer (March 25, 2008):
The Law is pretty clear on this particular point:
QUOTE
Offside Position
It is not an offense in itself to be in an offside position.
A player is in an offside position if:
– he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent
A player is not in an offside position if:
– he is in his own half of the field of play or
– he is level with the second last opponent or
– he is level with the last two opponents

Offense
A player in an offside position is only penalized if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:
– interfering with play or
– interfering with an opponent or
– gaining an advantage by being in that position
END OF QUOTE

No, a player is not obviously offside if he “receives the ball past the 2nd to last defender.” Simply receiving the ball when the player is past the second-last defender is not an infringement. To be offside, the player must actually be involved in active play (as described in the Law) and have been in an offside position at the moment when his teammate played the ball.

And no, neither would the player be considered offside if he received the ball farther away from the opponents’ goal than the second-last defender — providing he had not run back into an onside position from an offside position to receive the ball.

You might also consider reading the USSF publication “Offside Made Easy,” available on ussoccer.com. It is, as we said above, not where the player receives the ball, but where that player was when the teammate played the ball.…

Question:
The attack is occurring just outside the penalty area. There is an attacker in the offside position inside the penalty area. One of his teammates attempts to pass the ball to another attacker outside the penalty area. The ball is not played in the direction of the offsides attacker. Both of the players outside the penalty are onsides. The defender steps in to intersept the pass and is able to play the ball away from the attacker. In doing so, the ball is played towards his own goal, to the attacking player in an offside position. It was not a deflection, the defender played the ball. Offside?

USSF answer (March 18, 2008):
If the player in the offside position — there is no such thing as an “offsides attacker” as described in the question — clearly demonstrated that he was not involved in play, then there is no offside. If there was no involvement through interfering with an opponent, interfering with play, or gaining an advantage from that offside position, there the player is not offside. Once the defender gains possession and plays the ball, as you suggest he has done, then the ball is fair game.…

Question:
Is there an unwritten rule or understanding that if the play is so close that the AR is unable to determine with any confidence whether or not the player receiving the ball was or was not in an offside position that the AR should decide in favor of either the attacking team or defending team?

While watching some highlights from the 2002 World Cup I saw a few situations where Italian forwards were found to be in an offside position at the moment the ball was played forward to them within the attacking half, however, even when you look at these plays in super slow motion it’s difficult to determine whether or not the players are for sure in an offside position. In such situations, are ARs advised to go in favor of the defending team?

The only thing I was able to find that’s remotely close to this topic was within Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game section 11.7 where it states: “if an assistant referee is in any doubt as to whether a player is actively involved or not, the assistant referee is expected to decide in favor of the attacker; in other words, to refrain from signaling offside.”

But this has to do with whether or not the player in an offside position is actively involved. It doesn’t address what to do if the player is actively involved, but the AR is still unable to determine if this player is in an offside position or not because the play is so close and the action so fast.

In other words, as an AR are you only called to put up your flag to indicate offside if you’re 100% sure? Or if there’s any doubt, do you favor the defending team?

USSF answer (March 3, 2008):
When in doubt, leave the flag down. A less elegant, but equally valid way of saying what is in the Advice — and it is what we tell all referees who are acting as ARs. And your interpretation of offside seems somewhat skewed. If the AR cannot flag a player for offside who is not actively involved in play, then the AR has no decision to make other than to keep the flag down. Players are entitled to be in an offside position whenever their team is on the attack. They are punished only when they are in the offside position and become involved in play.…

Question:
My questions relate to Advice 11.6 that an off-sides player is “gaining an advantage” when he can capitalize immediately on a defender’s mistake (usually seen in non-controlled keeper deflections or goal post rebounds per Advice) and 11.14.2 that the off-sides determination is “re-set” when a defender gains possession/control of the ball (not simply deflecting it).

Consider Attacker A1 passes to the right flank area where A2 is standing in an off-sides position (10 yards). A2 makes no movement for the ball and even steps back from it (A2 judged not to be involved at this point). Onsides attacker/midfielder A3 begins to moves towards ball. A Defender will get to ball before A3 arrives. Next:
1. Defender’s first touch on the ball, seeing A3 approach, is to purposefully pass it back to keeper to kick a clearing ball. A2, passively observing till now, chases the ball to intercept it or at least challenge keeper’s clearance.
2. Defender gains control of ball and starts to dribble forward and within 2-3 seconds is challenged (otherwise fairly) from A2 who approached from Defenders rear.
3. Same as scenario 2 but A2 arrives 4-5 seconds later.

In each scenario, Defender exhibits some ball possession or control. To what extent, if any, should Defender be allowed to play absent A2’s involvement?

USSF answer (November 26, 2007):
“Off-sides”? “Onsides”? First things first, with a brief lecture on terminology. In soccer, the word is singular — offside or onside — unless we are talking about multiple violations. Second, we must always be clear about whether we are talking about “position” or “infringement,” so it is best at every opportunity to refer to offside or onside position and to an offside infringement.

Perhaps we misunderstand the question(s), but once a defender plays (meaning “possesses and controls”) the ball, there is no longer any immediate concern for the offside or onside position of any opposing player because, by definition, they cannot commit any offside infringement. The referee and the Laws of the Game cannot compensate for the mistakes of players. If a defender gains control of the ball and then misplays it or is so unaware of the position of any opponent as to allow that opponent to sneak up and successfully challenge for the ball, oh well, life is hard.…

Question:
Here is the scenario:
Three players are in offside position and run towards the ball, drawing defenders as they go. In the meantime, a fourth attacker runs from an onside position onto the ball and scores with it.

Are we to disallow the goal because the three players distracted their opponents? If so, how does this reconcile with the guidance that “a player in an offside position may be penalized before playing or touching the ball if, in the opinion of the referee, no other teammate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball.”

USSF answer (November 20, 2007):
It is now an established principle that in situations where an attacker is coming from an onside position and another attacker coming from an offside position, each with an equally credible chance of getting to the ball, it is imperative that officials withhold a decision until either it becomes clear which attacker will get to the ball first (even if this means having to wait until one or the other player actually touches the ball) or the action of the attacker coming from the offside position causes one or more opponents to be deceived or distracted.

From from your description, it is possible that the three attackers, by drawing defenders away from play elsewhere, have interfered with their opponents. The referee in this situation must decide whether in fact that actually occurred. Did these three attackers prevent an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movement, or by a gesture or movement which in the opinion of the referee deceives or distracts an opponent. If so, the correct call is offside. If not, then there is no offense.

The confusion here appears to lie in the “exclusivity” of the guidance you cite. That guidance refers only to the issue of whether an attacker is interfering with play. In other words, suggesting the need to wait for a decision when an onside attacker and an offside attacker are both making a play for the ball is related to whether one or the other of the attackers will interfere with play. If, apart from this, one or more attackers who are in offside positions are interfering with an opponent, this presents a separate issue.…

Question:
I have been a volunteer referee for our league for two years, at the U-10 level, which means I have refereed maybe 20 U-10 games total. I know I have “blown” some calls and will probably make more mistakes in the future, fortunately most parents and coaches are kind and generally, it is all good fun.

In the last game of the season this year (a good close game) an attacker at midfield passed the ball forward. I checked downfield and was certain that the most forward attacker was a good six feet offside, with no other defender except the keeper between the attacker and the goal. The forward pass did a slow roll to the offside attacker about 4-5 seconds later and about halfway between the circle and the box. I blew the whistle and indicated for the IFK. When the coach realized what I was calling, loud protests erupted. The coach, the assistant coach, and at least one parent all yelled and pointed at a defender that to me, had materialized out of thin air in front of the goal box. In U-10, we rarely have linesman, much less ARs, so I was alone on this one. While I was moving towards the spot, wondering to myself how I could have missed a defender standing in front of the net and whether I could do anything about it, the coach marched out to the center of the field to discuss the call with me. I told him that I didnÕt see the defender he was pointing to at the critical moment, it was too late now, and even allowing for the possibility, or even the near certainty, that I had made a mistake, I couldnÕt and wouldnÕt change a call based on something that I did not see. I told him that the coach can’t walk onto the field to have a conference with the referee and that he should return to the sideline, which he did without further protest. I then restarted with an IFK for the defense. I did put a comment on my game card about the unusual on-field conference Ð first time that ever happened to me.

Two questions:
1. Is team official reaction a valid basis for changing a decision, where it is contrary to what you think you saw but you strongly suspect that you may not have seen everything?
2. If it is, when should you use this tool, since it also struck me that, if I start changing calls when the coach yells loud enough, the coach is going to yell more, not just at me but at other volunteers — and I don’t think we will get many volunteer referees if coaches spend the game pointing out the “facts of play” during the games.

USSF answer (November 6, 2007):
1. We normally counsel referees that they cannot call an infringement if they or one of their assistant referees have not seen it. Referees should certainly not take the advice of team officials, who are bound to be protective of their own team’s interests. In this case, it would appear that your first glance down the field missed the defender near the goal. If that is true, you would not be the first referee to which this happened and will certainly not be the last. If the defender was actually there when the ball was played — and you suspect that to be true — then the only correct restart is a dropped ball at the place where the ball was when you stopped play.

We suggest that the referee apologize for missing the defender when he or she looked downfield and let the teams know that the proper restart for this mistake is a dropped ball.

2. Very few coaches actually know the Laws of the Game (or even the rules of the competitions in which their team plays). Always acknowledge their “advice” with a smile and get on with the game. You do not have to put what they say into action. However, if the coach behaves irresponsibly, in other words, becomes abusive, you have the authority to expel him or her from the game and include all details in the match report/game card.…

Question:
I am a new referee and have a question about Position Paper “Law 11: Offside Interfering with Play and Interfering with an Opponent,” dated August 24th, 2006.

I understand the main point of the paper, but then don’t understand how the goal cannot be disallowed in the specific example in the video clip and paper. The explanation in the paper says the Romario “is in an obvious offside position” and later has the ball played to him to score a goal. I thought the law was once in an offside position, a player continues to be considered offside until a change of possession. What is the intervening action that canceled his ‘original’ offside position?

The paragraph from the paper is below.

In the attached USL clip, Miami player Romario is in an obvious offside position when the ball is last touched by his teammate, Gil, and Gil then plays the ball forward almost directly toward Romario. However, Romario neither touches nor makes any play for the ball. Furthermore, there is no opponent close enough to be reasonably obstructed or impeded in any way nor does Romario make any gesture or movement which could reasonably be considered deceptive or distracting. Gil proceeds to run forward, takes control of his own pass, moves farther downfield from Romario, and then passes the ballback to Romario who ultimately scores a goal. The goal was valid and, in particular, there was no offside offense during any part of this sequence of play.

USSF answer (November 15, 2007):
You may have omitted an essential part of the offside equation while considering this problem. Under many circumstances any player may be in an offside position when his or her teammate plays the ball without fear of being punished for offside. In fact, a player could spend most of the game there without being punished in such a case — unless he or she completes the equation by becoming involved in play. Becoming involved by interfering with play or with an opponent is the point of the entire position paper.

For more up-to-date information, see the two position papers issued on October 16, 2007, “Offside Issues,” and October 17, 2007, “Offside Myths.”…