In an attempt to get parents of soccer players to understand the
offside position versus offside offense, we offer this from USSF.
From: Alfred Kleinaitis
Manager of Referee Development and Education
Subject: Offside Myths
Date: October 17, 2007
In response to the suggestion that there is widespread confusion regarding Law
11 (Offside), the allegation that referees are being inconsistent in applying
the requirements of this Law, and the increasing use of phrases like passive
offside, we would like to offer the following brief explanation to assist in
understanding the meaning and application of Law 11.
There is no such thing as active offside or passive offside despite the common
use of these terms, particularly by commentators. They are, at best, merely
shorthand phrases coined for easy reference to the two central concepts in Law
11. Unfortunately, as with so many shorthand phrases, they often confuse
rather than clarify what needs to be understood. In general, passive offside
is used to identify an attacker who is in an offside position but not involved
in active play, whereas active offside is intended to identify an attacker who
has become actively involved in play while in an offside position.
Law 11 has two core threads- these are position and offence. The
offside
position, has a well-established meaning and its concept is clear:
- A player is in an offside position if he is nearer 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.
- He is level with the second last opponent.
- He is level with the last two opponents
- The judgment as to the offside position is determined at the moment the
ball is played by a member of the players team.
Offside position is factual based on the relative positions of an attacker,
the ball, the halfway line, and the second last opponent.
The offside offence is, by contrast, a matter of interpretation
by the officiating team and, while the concepts are equally clear, some
clarification as to how the officials reach their decision is offered:
- Being in an offside position is not an offence in itself.
- A player in an offside position is only penalized if, at the moment the
ball is played or touched by a teammate, he is involved in the active play
by interfering with the play, interfering with an opponent or gaining
an advantage by being in that position.
- A player who receives the ball directly from a goal kick, throw in or a
corner kick has not committed an offside offence.
- A players offside or onside position at the time the ball is touched or
played by a teammate cannot be changed by any subsequent movement of the
player, the opponents or the ball, so long as there has been no intervening
play of the ball by an opponent. An offside or onside position is based on
where the player is when the players teammate touches or plays the
ball, not where the player becomes actively involved in play.
There must be a clear understanding that an offside position is decided
based on a moment in time when the ball is touched or played by a teammate
whereas the offside offence is judged from that moment onward. In other
words, having in effect taken a snapshot of player positions and frozen their
onside or offside positions at that moment, the officials must then judge
whether players in offside positions become involved in active play. This
involves weighing the direction and speed of the ball, the direction and speed
of the player in an offside position, the direction and speed of any teammates
coming from onside positions and the position and movement of any opponents
relative to players in offside positions.
Although this sounds very complex and perhaps beyond the abilities of mortal
men and women, in reality the decision-making process of a properly trained
official is smooth and calculated to reach a correct interpretation of each
situation. What is important to remember is that match officials take into
consideration the whole playing scenario across the entire field from where
the play started, factoring in the elapsed time, whereas many observers often
only focus on a few players, over a short period of time, based on the
direction of play and where it ends up.
How is the determination of active involvement made leading to a decision to
penalize for offside?
Interfering with play means touching or playing the ball last touched or
played by a teammate. In this context, touching and playing the ball are
considered equivalent actions by the player. At a meeting of the
International Football Association Board (IFAB) on 11 August 2005, this point
was clarified as follows: 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.
This clarification means that the player could be penalized immediately rather
than having to wait for a physical touch of the ball if, in the opinion of the
referee, there was no teammate in an onside position who could compete for the
ball. It follows that, if there were a teammate coming from an onside
position who could play the ball legally, it would be necessary to wait to see
which player actually got to the ball first.
Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from
playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponents
line of vision or movement, or by a gesture or movement which in the
opinion of the referee deceives or distracts an opponent. We also
have to remember that:
- Attackers clearly behind a defender do not interfere with them.
- Merely knowing that an opponent is in offside position does not justify
a defender claiming that he was interfered with.
- An attacker raising his hand to signify no involvement does not, by
itself, constitute an action which deceives or distracts. Indeed, in this
context, there is no need for an attacker to signal no involvement as his
involvement can be objectively determined by what he does, not by what he
fails to do.
Gaining an advantage by being in that position means playing a ball
that rebounds to him off a goalpost, crossbar, or an opponent, having been in
an offside position when that phase of play began. In effect, this particular
element is an extension of interfering with play, compounded by the rebound of
the ball. In cases where this aspect of law is invoked, confusion sometimes
arises from the fact that the attacker in an offside position would not have
been penalized for offside if the ball had not rebound to him or her in this
passage of play.
The approach taken by most match officials is to wait and see. In these
circumstances it may appear that the official is late or slow in signaling the
offence, but in reality he or she has taken all the evidence presented to him
or her, applied the knowledge and understanding of the criteria and come to a
balanced decision. This may have included the fact that the
player was not initially involved in active play and therefore no signal was
given. It is almost universally accepted that, if there is any doubt, then
the balance of doubt is given to the attacker.
We have addressed the specific instances in separate correspondence. The
purpose of this communication is solely to provide an extended discussion of
the elements from Law 11 that we have applied in responding to requests for
rulings regarding specific offside incidents. We also hope that you actively
(rather than passively) discourage the use of the phrases passive offside and
active offside as they are not part of the Law and only lead to confusion. If
you have any points or queries you wish to raise on this paper, please do not
hesitate to contact us.