Question Number: 21530

Law 11 - Offside 6/13/2009

RE: Competeive Adult

John of newmarket, ontario canada asks...

I'm having a mental block

Re offside

We have the attacking team
no one is currently in the off-side position
the central mid fielder kicks the ball in the air to his winger.
the winger has passed the second last defender and the ball deflects off a different defenders head and now lands at the wingers feet

Is he offside

thanks
jd

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Just relax and think a bit. You say has passed the 2nd last opponent?
Before or after the touch of the ball by the central mid field team-mate?
Was the winger inside the opposition's half of the field? Where was the winger WHEN the central mid field team-mate kicked the ball?

If the attacking winger (had NOT passed) the 2nd last opponent he was NOT offside positioned then he is NOT restricted from involvement.

If the attacking winger (had passed) the 2nd last opponent he is offside positioned and he is restricted from involvement.

If the winger was onside then he COULD run in behind the 2nd last opponent AFTER his team-mate kicked the ball! It is a fact of play that players and the ball move AFTER positional determinations are made.

An onside player is free to play the ball even if he runs into an offside looking position because there was no involvement restriction in place.

Also remember a deflection of the ball is a touch for THAT team only and resets offside criterion for THAT team only

A deflection of the ball off an opponent will NOT change the previous positional determination made for the attacking team or reset any restriction or non restrictions in this case for the attacking players.

In other words what criterion WAS or WAS NOT in effect WHEN the central mid fielder team-mate played the ball remains the SAME for that attacking team after any deflection of the ball off an opponent.
Was onside he remains onside after the deflection!
Was offside positioned he remains restricted after the deflection!
Cheers








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Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Offside considerations are reset on every touch of the ball by a teammate. So if A plays the ball to B while C is in an offside position, there is no offense yet. If C has regained an onside position before B sends it on to her, C is no longer in an offside position at the time the ball is last played by a teammate, so there is no offside offense.

Remember though that a player can't do anything by herself to get excused from offside. She must be aided by a touch of the ball by a teammate, or control of the ball by an opponent.

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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi John. Think about it. You say NO ONE is in offside position when the midfielder plays the ball. That's as far as you need to think. Since the winger was not offside when his teammate played the ball, there can be no offside consideration until offside resets. When does offside reset? Not when the ball is deflected off an opponent. That changes nothing. There can be no offside here regardless of the position of the winger. Had the ball deflected off a teammate of the winger, then we would reset offside and if the winger was in offside position when the ball touched a teammate and the ball landed at his feet, he would not legally be allowed to play the ball.

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