Soccer Offside

Offside is one of the laws of association football, codified in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game. The law states that players in an offside position, when the ball is touched or played by a teammate, may not become actively involved in the play. A player is in an offside position if any of their body parts with which they can touch the ball during any other part of the play is in the opponents' half of the pitch and closer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-to-last opponent (usually, but not necessarily always, the last defensive player in front of the goalkeeper). Being in an offside position is not an offense in itself; at the moment the ball touches, or is played by, the player's team, the player must also be "actively involved in the play" in the opinion of the referee, in order for an offense to occur. When the offside offense occurs, the referee stops play and awards an indirect free kick to the defending team from the position of the offending player.

The offside offense is neither a foul nor a misconduct, players are never booked or sent off for offside. Like fouls, however, any play (such as the scoring of a goal) that occurs after an offense has taken place but before the referee is able to stop the play is nullified. Players that continue such play may be booked based on the referee's assessment of how significant or intentional the play was.

One of the main duties of the assistant referees is to assist the referee in adjudicating offside — their position on the sidelines giving a more useful view sideways across the pitch. Assistant referees communicate that an offside offense has occurred by raising a signal flag. However, as with all officiating decisions in the game, adjudicating offside is ultimately up to the referee, who can overrule the advice of their assistants if they see fit.

The blue forward in the penalty box of the diagram is not in an offside position, as he is behind the ball, despite the fact that he is in front of all of his outfield opponents.

Application

The application of the offside rule may be considered in three steps: offside position, offside offense and offside sanction.

Offside position

A player is in an offside position if he is in the opposing team's half of the field and is also "nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent." The 2005 edition of the Laws of the Game included a new IFAB decision that stated being "nearer to an opponent's goal line" meant that "any part of his head, body or feet is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent". By the 2014/2015 Laws, the interpretation included the proviso that "The arms are not included in this definition".

In other words, a player is in an offside position if three conditions are met:

The player is in the opposing team's half of the field.
The player is closer to the opposing goal line than the ball is.
There are one or zero opposing players between the player and the opposing goal line.

(The goalkeeper counts as an opposing player in the third condition, but it is not necessary that the last opponent be the goalkeeper.)

Regardless of position, there is no offside offense if a player receives the ball directly from a goal kick, a corner kick, or a throw-in. However, an offside offense may occur if a player receives the ball directly from either a direct free kick or an indirect free kick.

The blue forward on the left of the diagram is in an offside position as he is in front of both the second-to-last opponent (marked by the dotted line) and the ball. This does not necessarily mean he is committing an offside offense. It only becomes an offense if the ball is played while he is in an offside position and he subsequently interferes with play (such as receiving a pass), interferes with an opponent, or somehow gains an advantage by being in an offside position (such as receiving a deflected ball) no matter if any of these events occur after he moves to an onside position.

Offside offense

A player in an offside position at the moment the ball is touched or played by a team mate is only committing an offside offense if, in the opinion of the referee, he becomes actively involved in play by:

Interfering with play: "playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate"
Interfering with an opponent: "preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or challenging an opponent for the ball"
Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position: "playing a ball that rebounds or is deflected to him off the goalpost, crossbar or an opponent having been in an offside position; or that rebounds, is deflected or is played to him from a deliberate save by an opponent having been in an offside position".

Since offside is judged at the time the ball is touched or played by a teammate, not when the player receives the ball, it is possible for a player to receive the ball significantly past the second-to-last opponent, or even the last opponent, without committing an offense.

Determining whether a player is in "active play" can be complex. The quote, "If you're not interfering with play, what are you doing on the pitch?" has been attributed to Brian Clough and Danny Blanchflower. FIFA issued new guidelines for interpreting the offside law in 2003 and these were incorporated in Law 11 in July 2005. The new wording seeks to define the three cases more precisely, but controversy regarding offside decisions often arises from assessment of what movements a player in an offside position can make without interfering with an opponent. This was further clarified by FIFA in 2015.

Offside sanction

The restart for an offside sanction is an indirect free kick for the opponent at the place where the off-sided player was at the time the teammate passed or touched the ball. This is defined as where the infringement took place.

Officiating

In enforcing this rule, the referee depends greatly on an assistant referee, who generally keeps in line with the second-to-last opponent, the ball, or the halfway line, whichever is closer to the goal line of their relevant end. An assistant referee signals that an offside offense has occurred by first raising their flag upright without movement and then, when acknowledged by the referee, by raising their flag in a manner that signifies the location of the offense:

Flag pointed at a 45-degree angle downwards: offense has occurred in the third of the pitch nearest to the assistant referee;
Flag parallel to the ground: offense has occurred in the middle third of the pitch;
Flag pointed at a 45-degree angle upwards: offense has occurred in the third of the pitch furthest from the assistant referee

Soccer Referee Officiating - Stories Preschool

The assistant referees' task with regard to offside can be difficult, as they need to keep up with attacks and counter-attacks, consider which players are in an offside position when the ball is played, and then determine whether and when the offside-positioned players become involved in active play. The risk of false judgement is further increased by the foreshortening effect, which occurs when the distance between the attacking player and the assistant referee is significantly different from the distance to the defending player, and the assistant referee is not directly in line with the defender. The difficulty of offside officiating is often underestimated by spectators. Trying to judge if a player is level with an opponent at the moment the ball is kicked is not easy: if an attacker and a defender are running in opposite directions, they can be two metres apart in less than a second.

Some researchers believe that offside officiating errors are "optically inevitable". It has been argued that human beings and technological media are incapable of accurately detecting an offside position quickly enough to make a timely decision. Sometimes it simply is not possible to keep all the relevant players in the visual field at once. There have been some proposals for automated enforcement of the offside rule.

Outline

SPORTS WORLD

Soccer | Football

The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play and only in their penalty area. Outfield players mostly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, but may also use their head or torso to do so instead. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. The Laws of the Game are the codified rules that help define association football. They are the only rules of association football subscribed to by the sport's governing body FIFA.

Gameplay: Two teams of eleven players each compete to get the ball into the other team's goal (between the posts and under the bar), thereby scoring a goal. The team that has scored more goals at the end of the game is the winner; if both teams have scored an equal number of goals then the game is a draw.

Players: Each team consists of a maximum of eleven players (excluding substitutes), one of whom must be the goalkeeper.

Referee: Is the person responsible for enforcing the Laws of the Game during the course of a match.

Assistant referee: The assistant referee's duties generally consist of judging when the ball has left the field of play.

Equipment: The basic equipment or kit players are required to wear includes a shirt, shorts, socks, footwear and adequate shin guards.

Game duration: A standard adult football match consists of two periods of 45 minutes each, known as halves. Each half runs continuously, meaning that the clock is not stopped when the ball is out of play.

Misconduct (Foul): Fouls and misconduct in football/soccer are acts committed by players which are deemed by the referee to be unfair and are subsequently penalized.

Positions: A team is made up of one goalkeeper and ten outfield players who fill various defensive, midfield, and attacking positions depending on the formation deployed.

Player styles: Most players will play in a limited range of positions throughout their career, as each position requires a particular set of skills and physical attributes.

Formations: The formation describes how the players in a team are positioned on the pitch. Different formations can be used depending on whether a team wishes to play more attacking or defensive football.

Tactics and skills: Well-organized and well-prepared teams are often seen beating teams with supposedly more skillful players, even over time.

Advanced skills: There are various individual skills and team tactics needed to play effective football.
Team Positions

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Team Positions

In the sport, each of the 11 players on a team is assigned to a particular position on the field of play. A team is made up of one goalkeeper and ten outfield players who fill various defensive, midfield, and attacking positions depending on the formation deployed. These positions describe both the player's main role and their area of operation on the pitch.

Goalkeeper: Goalkeeper, often shortened to keeper or goalie, is one of the major positions of association football.

Centre-back: The job of the centre-back is to stop opposing players, particularly the strikers, from scoring, and to bring the ball out from their penalty area.

Sweeper: The sweeper is a defensive position in football, so called because their job is to 'sweep up' any attacking moves which pass other defenders.

Full-back: The full-backs take up the holding wide positions and traditionally stayed in defense at all times, until a set-piece.

Wing-back: The wing-back (or attacking full-back) are defenders with heavier emphasis on attack.

Centre midfield: Central midfielders provide a link between defense and attack, fulfilling a number of duties and operating primarily in the middle third of the pitch.

Defensive midfield: A defensive midfielder is a central midfielder who is stationed in front of the defenders to provide more defensive protection, thus "holding back" when the rest of the midfield supports the attack.

Attacking midfield: An attacking midfielder is a midfield player who is positioned in an advanced midfield position, usually between central midfield and the team's forwards, and who has a primarily offensive role.

Wide midfield: Is a midfielder who is stationed to the left or right of central midfield.

Centre forward: A centre forward (main striker) has the key task of scoring goals and for this reason acts as the focal point of the majority of attacking play by a team.

Second striker: They are required to be more "nippy", quick, mobile, and skillful, helping to create goals and scoring opportunities for centre forwards.

Winger: Is an attacking player who is stationed in a wide position near the touchlines.

SPORTS

Soccer | Football

The goalkeepers are the only players allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play and only in their penalty area. Outfield players mostly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, but may also use their head or torso to do so instead. The team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins.

The Laws of the Game are the codified rules that help define association football. They are the only rules of association football subscribed to by the sport's governing body FIFA.