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I have to ask you about something that has always been confusing me. What exactly is the offsides rule? I can remember times when it should have been called and it wasn't and then it was called when nobody looked like they were offsides! So what's the deal? Please answer me.
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| Dear wanting to know,
Offsides occurs when a player is closer to the opponent's goal than 2 of the other team's players (goalkeeper included) when the ball is played to him/her. A player can only be offsides in the attacking half of the field. Offsides occurs at the point in which the ball is played to the player in an offsides position, not when he/she receives it. If the player is evenly positioned with the 2nd to last player (remember that the GK counts as the last player) then he/she is considered onsides and good to go to goal. |
Offsides exceptions: -Throw ins - You cannot be called offsides in your defending half of the field, regardless of the other team's positioning : Goalkicks - Corner Kicks (until someone touches it) - You can't be called offsides if you are behind the ball : in other words, if one of your teammates is dribbling ahead of you, then you can't be offsides if he/she passes the ball to you as long as you were onsides when the ball was passed to him/her.
(Right: Remi Garde of Arsenal appeals for offside as Sergi Rebrov of Dynamo Kiev fires home the late equaliser during the UEFA Champions League match at Wembley in London in October of '98.)
Sometimes a player on your team is in an offsides position when the ball is played to you. It is up to the discretion of the referee to determine if your teammate was involved in the play or if your teammate gained some advantage by being in an offsides position when the ball was played : that's why sometimes a teammate is called offsides once the play has materialized : it's usually because the referee decided that your teammate gained a positional advantage by being offsides when the ball was passed to you.
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There are other situation where determining offsides can be tricky. Good news, though: the FIFA rule book has diagrams to help with the tricky, more common situations. It's a great guide for any player, coach, ref or fan to get a better grip on the rules and to refer back to during the long year.
Good Luck, Dr. RedCard |
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