Ask me about being a FIFA-certified soccer referee

[ChuckyB]

[ QUOTE ]
From the USSF Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game:

11.6 GAINING AN ADVANTAGE

"Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position"...also means being near enough the play to capitalize immediately on a defender's mistake.

This was precisely what I was referring to in my example. That's why my example should be considered offside and no goal. Always nice being told I'm 100 percent wrong though.

Stak

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey Stak:

The only problem with your example of:

[ QUOTE ]
A player in an offside position is standing at the top of the penalty box. His teammate plays a ball to the opposite corner of the field and a defender runs over and attempts to clear it. <u>The defender takes a big swing and shanks the ball off the side of his foot, and it rolls to the offside player who scores.</u>

This goal won't stand. The player gained an advantage from being in his offisde position Even though the opposing team played the ball

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is:

[ QUOTE ]

from USSF Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game:

11.14 BECOMING "ONSIDE"
A player who is in an offside position at the moment the ball is played by a teammate can become "onside" in only four ways.
...
3. An opponent intentionally plays or gains possession of the ball.


[/ QUOTE ]

According to the USSF an opponent "intentionally" playing the ball negates any previous offside position. A "mistake" (from 11.6) would be open to interpretation, but I assume it involves a defender who didn't see the ball only to have it ring off his head...things like that.

In your example it sounds like the defender intended to play the ball and just screwed up. According to my reading that puts the attacker onside and it not a "mistake" in the sense the rules want to convey.

[stakman1011]

Excellent point Chucky,

I was waiting for someone to point this out. This rule is very much open to the referee's interpretation. I've always assumed that when a ball is bouncing past a defender who is hurried and plays it rashly (thus shanking it), his shank does not rise to the level of "intentionally plays or gains possession of the ball."

The exception to the offside rule to me is talking about clear cases of possession that would result in the "free move the ball out to the blueline" argument that ikestoys has been making.

Add into that the clear probability that an offensive player in an offside position cannot help but affect the decision making of a defensive player under pressure, and I always lean toward giving offside.

Maybe that's just because I'm a goalkeeper who wants offside given in every situation!

Stak

[sixfour]

Interesting thread. A couple of questions:

- it appears to me that many referees will stop play for a free kick for many minor infringements in the centre of the park, yet would never give a penalty if the same foul took place in the penalty area. Have you noticed this? While we don't want to see dozens of penalties in every game, if a ref isn't giving a pen for something he can't then give a free kick for the same thing elsewhere on the park...

- don't know if you watch rugby officiating at all, but would you like to see anything from there implemented in football? Personally if we had systems where only a captain can speak to a referee, 10 minute sin-bins for cautions and TV replays for scoring decisions, the game would be a lot better.

[edit - also what's your take on the Mikel red card from last week]

[kolotoure]

1. i am guilty of this sometimes but I don't think it is something you will ever see change

2. they are 2 different games and implementing these things at lower levels would be really difficult imo

3. I'm still unsure about that sending off. When a saw it in real time I thought it was a red but after seeing the replays I'm not too sure

[Jay Riall]

No way in hell was that a red.

[fredericksburg]

It was a yellow card in my eyes. Did look worse from some angles though. Always nice to see Chelsea on the wrong end of these decisions.

[ThaSaltCracka]

The Mikel foul isn't a send off once you see replays. Initially it looked really bad though.