There are 17 official rules of soccer, but the hardest to understand is the offside rule.
The reason that this regulation is so confusing is its highly subjective nature. Being in an offside position is easily verifiable, but an offside offense only occurs when a player is “actively involved”, and that is something that is defined by the interpretation of the referee. This often causes conflict and confusion among both fans and players. Let’s take a look at the rule and see if we can wrap our heads around it.
Law 11: Offside Offence
The official rules state that a player is committing this infraction if the referee determines that at the moment the ball was touched by a fellow team player that the violating player was both in an offside position AND involved in active play by doing one of the following: Interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage by being in that position.
What is Offside
In order to be offside, a player must be closer to the goal than two of the opposing team’s players and the ball. One of those two players will undoubtedly be the goalie, therefore, you are offside if you are closer to the goal than all the opponent players except the goalie and the ball has been touched by your teammates, and the ball is in forward motion.
Confused Slightly?
You can see the possibility for confusion, but when you throw in the last caveat it gets really confounding. It is not an offence to be in an offside position. The offence occurs when the player is BOTH in the offside position AND interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage by being in that position. It is easy to see why this is such a subjective offence for referees.
Why is the offside offence a rule?
The reason for this rule is the prevention of “goal hanging”. Goal hanging is where a player hangs near the opposing team’s goalie in hopes that a teammate can get him a long ball which he will in turn get past the goalie. It is an attempt to get ahead of the rest of the opposition and only have to face the goalie head to head.
Punishment for offence
When a referee calls this offence, the punishment to the other team is the loss of the ball and the awarding of an indirect free kick to the defense at the point of the infraction. This causes the infringing team to lose forward momentum and chance to score. It can also give the infringed upon team a chance to score.
Offside trap
Some teams attempt to use this law to their advantage by using a technique called the offside trap. Developed in the early 20th century by Notts County, this technique is a defense ploy intended to force the advancing team into an offside position. Seconds before the attacking player kicks the ball, the defenders all rush up field leaving an attacker in an offside position. This is a tricky and risky move that requires coordinated timing on behalf of the defenders and can leave the goal exposed to the offences advance.
An offside offence and be very difficult to call, and can cause a lot of controversy due to its subjective nature. A player can be even with a defender one moment and, in the flash of an eye, be offside, and may not even realize it has happened. There are many incidences of players being hit with sanctions over this offence without even realized that it has happened, but the best players use this and all other rules to their advantage to make the game fun and watchable for all the fans.
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