To develop a knowledge & understanding of Law 11 - Offside
Outcomes
By the end of this course you should be able to:
Indicate when a player is in an offside position or not.
Demonstrate when to award offside against a player.
Differentiate the following terms:
‘nearer to his opponents goal line’
‘interfering with play’
‘interfering with an opponent’ and
‘gaining an advantage by being in that position’.
Understand important concepts, such as;
The difference between being in an offside position and being penalised for being in an offside position.
When a player is not penalised for being in an offside position.
Why, when a defending player leaves the field of play without the referee’s permission, they should be considered to be on his goal line/touch line for the purposes of offside, until the ball is next in play.
The hands or arms are not included when judging offside position; this is true for all players including the goalkeepers. This view is supported by and helps assistant referees throughout the world as it is often difficult to identify the exact position of the hands and arms.
a player CAN NOT be in an offside POSITION in their own half
a player CAN commit an offside OFFENCE in their own half if they go back into their own half from an offside position
With the exception of offences in the goal area, throughout the Laws every free kick is awarded from the place where the offence occurs so it is logical that this should also apply to offside.
It is unfair that a defender who goes off the field of play (often through injury) remains ‘active’ on the goal line until play next stops as play can continue for a long time. The new wording makes it clear that once the defending team has cleared the ball towards the halfway line and it is outside their penalty area, that ‘phase of play’ has ended and the defender is no longer ‘active’ for offside. This will require alertness from assistant referees and good communication between the referee and assistant.
The player could come back onto the field of play without the other team being aware and then receive a pass or make a challenge. If the player is penalised for offside no advantage has been gained so there is no need for a caution (YC).
