Offside Ref

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The Offside Rule and Offside Trap in Football(Soccer)

It is not an offence in itself to be in an offside=20 position.

A player is in an offside position if:=20

he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and = the second=20 last opponent

A player is not in an offside position if:=20

he is in his own half of the field of play=20
he is level with the second last opponent=20
he is level with the last two opponents

Commiting an Offside Offence
A player in an offside = position is=20 only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of = his=20 team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:=20

interfering with play=20
interfering with an opponent=20
gaining an advantage by being in that position

No Offence
There is no offside offence if a player receives = the=20 ball directly from:=20

a goal kick=20
a throw-in=20
a corner kick

Infringements/Sanctions
For any offside offence, the = referee awards=20 an indirect free kick to the opposing team to be taken from the place = where the=20 infringement occurred.

3D"Offside This is offside because the red number 10 is in front of = all of the=20 defenders, leaving only the goalkeeper back which isn't enough players = to play=20 him onside. This position may have been forced by the defenders moving = forward=20 in what is called the offside trap.

3D"Offside Here we can see that the blue number 3 defender has fail to = move up=20 the field with rest of his defence and played the red number 9 onside. = This is a=20 classic example of where the offside trap fails

3D"Why The offside rule exists to stop goal hanging, where a = player stands=20 next to the opposing teams goal keeper in the hope that someone can get = the ball=20 to him (probably using a long ball), so he can get it past the goal = keeper.=20 Which would make for a very boring game.

3D"Two The red number 9 isn't beyond the blue 4 defender but is = offside=20 because the goal keeper isn't back. This is one of those rare occasions = where=20 goal keeper is out of the goal (e.g. last minute of F.A. Cup final on a = corner=20 kick) and can't get back in time but if the attacking team play the ball = as they=20 normally would, then it would be offside because the offside rule = requires two=20 defenders to be in front the attacker and the goal keeper usually counts = as a=20 defender.

3D"Linesman Why are linesmen (assistant referees) always calling = offside when it=20 isn't? Well believe it or not its not really their fault (unless the = decision=20 goes against you or your team), it's all to do with angles and line of = sight. In=20 the picture the purple line represents the linesman's line of sight = which as you=20 can see is at a slight angle, this line should be parallel with the goal = line.=20 So even though the red number 10 is being played onside by the blue = defender it=20 will be called offside. This is unfortunate but does happen from time to = time.

Quick Picks

Spionkop=
Why=20 do a lot of northern grounds have a stand called the 'the kop'.

Offs= ide Rule=20 (detailed)
Detailed explanation of the of the offside = rule.

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