Expert: Cody Gaines - 9/11/2008

Question
Left mid passes ball to stiker at the 18 yd line, stiker takes shot & scores.  Ref calls "no goal" right wing was offsides.  Right wing was 40' away in the offsides position but not involved in the play & never touched the ball. Is refs call correct?

Answer
Hi Frank,
    This question is a tricky one because without being there it is hard to see the whole picture of what the referee was seeing.  However, by how you described the situation to me it sounds as if the referee may have made a mistake.  Remember the offside call is judged at the moment the ball is played or touched by a teammate (it is not an offense to be in an offside position unless you are involved in active play or are interfering with play).  Maybe the striker that you  are talking about was offside when the ball was kicked, however, came onside to receive the ball which in turn would result in offside.  However, if the striker was fine and not offside by any means then maybe the assistant referee and referee thought that the right wing was interfering with play by either distracting a defender or the goal keeper which would result in offside.  Or simply the referee and his assistant may have made a mistake and have misinterpreted the law 11 (offside) thinking that it is an offense to be in an offside position, which is not correct.

I hope that this helps answer your question, sorry that I was not able to give you a straight forward answer, however, when it comes to making an offside call the referee and the assistant referee have to consider a lot.  If you have any further questions or maybe have further detail about the situation that could help me answer this more throughly I would be more than willing.

Sincerely
Cody