Offside law (football)

From ArticleWorld

The offside law is one of the most complex and difficult to officiate in the sport of football. An offside is awarded against a player caught in a position in the opposition half with only one player between himself and the goal. But the rule has numerous intricacies and nuances, which make presiding over the offside rule a very difficult process.

Definition

The offside rule was first thought to be introduced in 1848, although the only physical record is the Cambridge rules of 1856, which survive to this day. The law has seen many changes since it’s early inception, it has been refined and become an integral part of the game. The basic law stipulates that when a ball is passed forward in the opposition half there should be no fewer than two players between the offensive player and the goal. Ordinarily this will be a defender and the goalkeeper but any two legal players count. Off side can only be enforced in the opposition half so a player can never be caught offside in their own defending half. The ball must be played forward in order for it to be considered offside, a player may run beyond another and pass it back to him and even if there is only one or even no player present it is not counted as offside. The offside is taken from when the ball is struck and not when the player receives it, a player may appear offside if running at a static defence but he may in fact be onside. Similarly a player might move back towards the defensive half after being in an offside position when the ball was struck and he may in fact appear onside due to his new position but should in fact be penalised.

Offside Trap

The offside trap is a method employed by defenders to catch straying forwards offside. The tactic simply involves the defence pushing up before the ball is struck to leave a forward stranded offside thus giving the defensive team a free kick. For this to be an effective method the team must move up as a unit, if only player is caught back it may ruin the play. This tactic is often a risk as players pushing up will often expose huge gaps behind them and a player charging forward with momentum can make a huge head start if it goes wrong.

Assistant Referees

Football matches are officiated by a referee who is the primary decision maker, in the case of off side he must rely heavily on his two assistants on the touch line who follow the play in line with the ball. The off side decision will largely depend on the judgement of the referees assistant. If the assistant notices an offside he will raise a flag to show to the referee that an infringement has occurred and remain static pointing to the position where it happened. Due to the speed of the modern game these decisions are often very tight and can often be incorrect, which is often infuriating for audiences, especially if it prevents a clear goal scoring opportunity. Modern rulings stipulate that assistant referees give the ‘benefit of the doubt’ to the attacking team, which in theory should lead to a more free flowing game.