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| MESSAGE: | All, The Board has been a bit dead of late. A number of potential offside situations to ponder. Some fairly easy. Others need some thought. Being a referee is sooooooo easy ;-). Situation 1: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 passes the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. As the ball is moving past Defender 1, Defender 1 reaching out with a foot in the direction of the ball. Defender 1 contacts the ball with the extended foot. The ball continues on to Attacker 2 who blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 2: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 passes the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. As the ball is moving past Defender 1, Defender 1 steps to his right and attempts to send the ball upfield. Unfortunately, the ball spins off defender 1's foot and continues in the direction of Attacker 2. Attacker 2 then blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 3: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 chips the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. As the ball is moving past Defender 1, Defender 1 steps forward, jumps and attempts to head the ball upfield. The Defender 1 slightly misjudges the ball. He jumps and the ball contacts the top of his head and skips forward to Attacker 2. Attacker 2 then blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 4: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 shoots the ball in the direction of the goal. The keeper sticks out his leg contacting the ball sending it in the direction of Attacker 2 who was in an offside position when the shot was taken. Attacker 2 then blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 5: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal. Attacker 1 attempts to play the ball through to attacker 2 who is in an offside position. Defender 1 reads the pass and steps in and wins the ball. Defender 1 (who is the only defender between Attacker 1 and the keeper) takes a touch to his right and attempts to clear the ball. Attacker 1 attempts to stop the pass. The attempted clearance bounces off of Attacker 1's chest to the feet of Attacker 2 who was behind Defender 1 when Defender 1 attempted to clear the ball. Attacker 2 buries the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 6: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal. Attacker 1 attempts to play the ball through to attacker 2 who is in an offside position. Defender 1 reads the pass and steps in and wins the ball. Defender 1 (who is the only defender between Attacker 1 and the keeper) takes a touch to his right and attempts to clear the ball. Attacker 1 turns and attempts to get back. The attempted clearance bounces off of Attacker 1's back to the feet of Attacker 2 who was behind Defender 1 when Defender 1 attempted to clear the ball. Attacker 2 buries the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 7: Attacker 1 plays the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. Attacker 3 is running alongside, but slightly behind Attacker 1 when the ball is played. Attacker 2 does not move toward the ball and then stops. Defender 1 looks at Attacker 2, hears the parents yell "offsides" and stops. Attacker 3 runs onto the ball and buries the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 8: Attacker 1 plays the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. Attacker 3 is running alongside, but slightly behind Attacker 1 when the ball is played. Attacker 2 takes a couple steps toward the ball, but then stops running three yards from the ball. Defender 1 looks at Attacker 2, hears the parents yell "offsides" and stops. Attacker 3 runs onto the ball and buries the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? Situation 9: Attacker 1 plays the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. Attacker 3 is running alongside, but slightly behind Attacker 1 when the ball is played. Attacker 2 runs directly toward the ball. Defender 1 looks at Attacker 2, hears the parents yell "offsides" and stops. Attacker 3 beats the running Attacker 2 runs onto the ball first and buries the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? |
| Responses |
| CoachnRef On 10/16/2009 9:49:17 AM Situation 4: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 shoots the ball in the direction of the goal. The keeper sticks out his leg contacting the ball sending it in the direction of Attacker 2 who was in an offside position when the shot was taken. Attacker 2 then blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? OFFSIDE. The ONLY time this should not be called offside is if the keeper CLEARLY played the ball. In other words, he or she would have taken a touch or two to the right with his foot (CLEARLY controlling the ball) with the intention of sending the ball to a teammate. In the case described, the keeper has saved the initial shot. Without being able to control the ball, as soon as it is clear that the attacker who was in an offside position is involved in the play, the attacker should be penalized for offside. |
| CoachnRef On 10/14/2009 9:12:43 PM Situation 3: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 chips the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. As the ball is moving past Defender 1, Defender 1 steps forward, jumps and attempts to head the ball upfield. The Defender 1 slightly misjudges the ball. He jumps and the ball contacts the top of his head and skips forward to Attacker 2. Attacker 2 then blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? OFFSIDE (although a few referees insist this is a played ball that was just poorly played by the attacker -- therefore, they will allow the goal). If the defender is not able to actually play the ball -- having it glance off of their head in this case is not considered controlling/playing the ball -- then offside is to be called. |
| CoachnRef On 10/9/2009 6:49:15 PM Situation 2: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 passes the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. As the ball is moving past Defender 1, Defender 1 steps to his right and attempts to send the ball upfield. Unfortunately, the ball spins off defender 1's foot and continues in the direction of Attacker 2. Attacker 2 then blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? ANSWER: Not quite as easy as one might think. The referee must make a virtually split-second decision. Did the defender play the ball or not. Was the defender merely kicking at the ball to redirect somewhere or was he actually attempting to play it somewhere? If the defender played the ball: GOAL. If the defender merely attempted to play the ball, in the opinion of the referee, but did not actually play the ball: OFFSIDE. This play can be a very challenging call. A player should not gain an advantage by being in an offside position. Yet, if the defender plays the ball (let's take the scenario where this defender would have intentionally played the ball back to his keeper), then there is no "moment in time" when the ball is being played by the ATTACKER since the DEFENDER is the player playing the ball back to the keeper -- therefore, no chance to rule offside resulting in a GOAL. |
| CoachnRef On 10/7/2009 11:49:15 PM I will give these answers in a phased approach. Situation 1: Attacker 1 is attacking the goal, Attacker 1 passes the ball forward in the direction of Attacker 2 who is in an offside position. As the ball is moving past Defender 1, Defender 1 reaching out with a foot in the direction of the ball. Defender 1 contacts the ball with the extended foot. The ball continues on to Attacker 2 who blasts the ball into the back of the net. Goal or offside? OFFSIDE. But, some referees will rule that by moving the foot in the direction of the ball, the defender is actually playing the ball. Therefore, they allow the goal. The key decision for the referee to make in this case is did the defender PLAY THE BALL? If the defender played the ball, then there is no offside. If the defender barely touched the ball, the defender has not played the ball, therefore, no offside. |
| tallman110 On 9/26/2009 1:43:24 PM CoachnRef, I agree with you that the parents yelling should be dismissed as irrelevant, I stated that in my earlier reply. Also, other responses suggested that they thought the mere presence of an offside attacker would interfere with the defender and I was giving an example that met the criteria of sit. 7-9 where the offside should not be called. Take my example and move A2 from the sideline and put him next to D1 where he obstructs D1's movement after the pass and you should call offside. My point is that without a picture showing where the players are you can't give a difinative answer to 7-9. Do you disagree? |
| CoachnRef On 9/25/2009 11:48:18 PM Tallman110, First of all, for situations 7 through 9, the parents yelling is as helpful as most parental banter from the sidelines. It is 100% dismissed as being irrelevant. You might be surprised as to how we are to judge situations 7 through 9. Responses will be provided early next week. Certainly more parents and coaches have some opinions on these situations!!! Take a stab. Unlike the situations of referees during games, there is no penalty for a wrong answer....or interpretation.... |
| tallman110 On 9/25/2009 7:48:17 PM Consider #7-9 this way. A1 is in the middle of the field just outside the center circle on his attacking half, A2 is slightly offside on the sideline and A3 is running alongside between the two onside. D1 is defending A1 in a goalside position. A1 dumps the ball towards the corner flag (in the direction of A2) but the pass is to soft to get there and A3 is faster than A2. A3 gets to the ball at the corner of the 18 and scores. Whether A2 stops, runs then stops, or runs the whole way, he is still on the far side of the play and D1 should be focused on A3 since he is closer and has the ball. Also, D1 has no way of knowing (since he was focused on A1 at the time the ball was played) if A2 or A3 were on or off until the referee stops play, it's the responsiblity of the defender to play defense. If we move the players around, I can also think of situations when offside should be called. Without a picture we really can't say one way or the other difinitively on #7-9. |
| CoachnRef On 9/25/2009 10:30:37 AM Soccer1969, In addition to the LOTG, referees also need to read and understand information from several other sources including Interpretations of the LOTG and Guidelines for Referees, Memorandum to Referees that typically include Amendments to the LOTG, and various other Memorandum. Many of you are on the right track with these situations. Hopefully, everyone can gain a bit more insight into the complexities of the job of the referee. Also remember, referees don't have the opportunity to consult a website during the middle of a match. ;-) |
| soccer1969 On 9/24/2009 2:21:48 PM From the FIFA LOTG 09/10: "A player in an offside position is only penalised 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" Seems like the first several seem to fall into the "gaining advantage by being in that position" I love the ones that mention that the poor performance of the kid was due to the parents yelling something that may or may not be correct. I also don't think that a player that is in an offside position would be considered "interfering with play" or "with opponent" just merely by being there. However, the ability to interpret whether the offside player did actually interfere makes it real difficult to answer a written question 100% correctly. Also, it makes it hard to prove that the ref made a bad judgement call. |
| ripmeister On 9/24/2009 10:07:49 AM Tallmans response to situations 7-9 is where I at times get confused on this. Even if the offside attacker doesn't get to the ball before his teammate who was onside isn't he material to the play? That is simply his presence in the area could cause a defender to take notice and affect the defenders decision as to what to do. |
| ripmeister On 9/24/2009 10:04:17 AM One of my goals as a team admin is to educate my parents on the subtleties of the calling of a game. Therefore, I can never get enough info from the refs perspective. Also, once I think I know it something new pops up. |
| tallman110 On 9/23/2009 8:20:31 PM yes I do realize I can't spell attacker |
| tallman110 On 9/23/2009 8:18:57 PM #1-3 are offside because a deflection off a defender doesn't affect the offside position, it must be a controlled change of posession. #4 is offside because a deflection off the keeper or goal post doesn't affect offside position. #5-6 you state attaker 2's position when the defender attempts to clear and offside is judged when the ball is last played OR touched by a teammate. If attaker 2 is still in an offside position when the ball touches attaker 1's chest or back (or anyother part of his/her body) then offside on both. #7-9 are more difficult and depend of the referees opinion of whether or not attaker 2 interferes with the defender. Even if attaker 2 goes toward the ball refs are instructed to wait and see which player touches the ball first if one is onside and one is off. Depending on how close to the ball and defender attaker 2 was would play a big role. It appears to me that the defenders action may have been influenced more by the parents yelling than attaker 2. No offside for parents interfering with a defender. Remember kids play til the whistle. |
| Ciscooh On 9/23/2009 4:57:20 PM You didn't get enough of this discussion two weeks ago? |
| ripmeister On 9/23/2009 1:16:04 PM Ok. I'll bite. 1-4 are all offside. #5 is offside as well as I am assuming that when you say Attacker 2 is behind Defender 1 you mean that Attacker 2 is between Defender 1 and his keeper. Gooooooaaaaaaal! on #6. #7 is a tough one because although Attacker 2 stops and makes no attempt on the ball, the ball is still in his direction which I would say still makes him material to the play therefore the offside should be called even though Attacker 3 was onside. #'s 8 and 9 I say offside because Attacker 2 moving toward the ball makes him material to the play. Disclaimer-I am not a ref but I love these subtleties to the offside call. I wish more parents would take the time to learn about these subtleties, not to mention the fact that the ref has to make a split second judgement when they arise. Great post |