Offside Laws - Clarification of "actively involved in play"

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Last Updated: Friday, 15 July, 2005, 09:42 GMT 10:42 UK
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Think you know your offside?


Like most things in football the offside rule is pretty simple - that is until it gets changed each year.

An amendment to the rule was introduced at the start of the 2003/04 season, which allows a player to be in an offside position provided he or she is not "actively involved in play".

It was designed to promote attacking football, but different interpretations of what constitutes "active play" have led some to suggest it is open to abuse.

So ahead of this season Fifa, world football's governing body, has clarified when a player is to be regarded as "actively involved in play":

"Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate."

You can expect to see what would appear to be very late decisions by assistant referees this season, as they won't raise their flag until a player touches the ball.

Of course, a player doesn't necessarily have to touch the ball to influence the play. They are still offside if they are judged to be:

* Interfering with an opponent - If an attacker interferes with an opponent by either preventing them from playing or being able to play the ball, then they are offside. This could be done by blocking the goalkeeper, or obstructing their line of vision.

* Gaining an advantage - If the ball is played into the penalty area and rebounds off either a post, the crossbar or an opposing defender, then the attacker is offside as they have gained an advantage by being in that position.

OFFSIDE ESSENTIALS

Got your head around the new rules? Here's our guide to the basics.

A player is in an offside position if they are nearer to the opposition's goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent.

Clear so far? There are a few more things to remember.

You can't be offside if:

# You receive the ball directly from a goal kick, a throw-in or a corner;
# you are in your own half of the pitch;
# you are level with the second last or last two opponents;
# you are not actively involved in play, as explained above.

For any offside offence, the referee awards an indirect free-kick to the opposing team, to be taken from the place where the infringement occurred.

hope this might remove some of the confusion - doubt it though

Big Ears

For me this seems to have completly cleared eveything up and its as clear as.......day(or something very clear) to me . I wasn't aware that you can't be offside from a goalkick though .

eirebhoy

It hasn't really cleared everthing up. This rule change was in place for the confederations cup and its a bit of a shambles. A player could be offside and chasing the ball down at the corner flag. The fans could be going crazy as there's no defenders to beat and there's a free teammate running into the box for the cross. As soon as the player gets to the ball and touches it the linesman raises his flag and the ball is brought back. AFAIK that is actually what has to happen.

The Muppet

You can't be offside if:

# You receive the ball directly from a goal kick, a throw-in or a corner;

That's an interesting one that has the potential to cause defenders a bit of a headache

mr_angry

It seems to me that its the same thing most referees were playing last year, with the addition of 'obscuring the view of a goalkeeper'.

andyman

I think they should have left the rules as they were

Big Ears

The Muppet wrote:

That's an interesting one that has the potential to cause defenders a bit of a headache

Well the throw in thing has been there for a very long time now but I didn't know about the goal kicks thing .

'It seems to me that its the same thing most referees were playing last year, with the addition of 'obscuring the view of a goalkeeper'.'

The FA brought that in half way through the season last year its just refs didn't always apply it .

The_B_Man

fuk sake! :mad:

if its not broke, dont mess with it!

Thanx 4 The Fish

The Muppet wrote:

That's an interesting one that has the potential to cause defenders a bit of a headache

This is not a new rule, it has had the potential to cause goalkeepers probelms for years before and years to come.

Laws of the game here

And changes here.

pogcica

The new rules also mean the defenders can no longer just put their hands up and call for an obvious offside,then stop. They have to go get the ball if the attacker has not already touched it,otherwise another attacking player can come from on side and continue towards goal.I believe there could be teams who can manipulate the rule but not at the( Parks level) i play at

growler

the most difficult scenaio for a keeper and defenders must be having one or more off-side attackers running on goal , ok they can't touch the ball, but their presence has to be very distracting. I'm sure some team will actively employ this as a tactic , though imo it's interfering with play , the rules suggest they are not.

Thanx 4 The Fish

growler wrote:

the most difficult scenaio for a keeper and defenders must be having one or more off-side attackers running on goal , ok they can't touch the ball, but their presence has to be very distracting. I'm sure some team will actively employ this as a tactic , though imo it's interfering with play , the rules suggest they are not.

Does this not cover the said situation...

" Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent."

growler

you'd think so allright, but one of the scenarios shown on the BBC "clairification" seems to show an offside attacker advancing on goal but not deemed to be interfering with play. For example if an attacker is advancing directly in front of goal and a team mate is ahead to the right or left , they're not blocking a view of the ball but it must be distracting.

Surely any movement is distracting, how can a ref judge what a keeper is seeing / thinking , if the flag for offside doesnt go up until the offside player becomes "active" then the keeper can't really know who he needs to watch.

I think we'll see a lot of dodgy, late and incorrect decisions this season.

KdjaCL

If your on the pitch your interfering with play regardless of position.


kdjac

Drag00n79

UEFA are not accepting this new interpretation.

The Football Association has decided not to take on board Fifa's controversial new interpretation of the offside law. World governing body Fifa's new guideline means the linesman's flag will only be raised when an offside player touches the ball.

But an FA spokesman told BBC Sport: "The law has not changed, just the interpretation of it.

"The offside law in England will be the same as it was last season."

The offside law says that a player cannot be offside unless "actively involved in play".

But the new guidline calls for linesmen to only blow when the offside player actually touches the ball.

Fifa said the offside rule "has not changed in essence", but when it was tried out in the Confederations Cup it was criticised by players and managers.

Tunisia coach Roger Lemerre and German keeper Oliver Kahn both spoke out against the change but it was defended by Fifa president Sepp Blatter.

Southampton boss Harry Redknapp also spoke out, describing it as "one of the most bizarre rules ever to come into play" after a pre-season friendly, while Hibernian manager Tony Mowbray said it was "comical".

The Scottish Football Association have decided not to implement the new interpretation, as have European governing body Uefa.

It means that British players will be using different rules in domestic competitions and the World Cup qualifiers in September.


Source: BBC Football