Who counts in determining offside position (OSP)? In order to identify attackers in an OSP, it is necessary to locate the ball and the second to last defender (STLD). The ball should not be a problem, but finding the STLD might not be as easy as we sometimes think.

 

First of all, remember that the goalkeeper is included in this calculation. Goalkeepers are such shy, quiet, retiring people that it is sometimes easy to forget they are there. On the other hand, it is also sometimes easy to lose track of a goalkeeper who is not staying back and who may therefore not be counted among the last two defenders. Usually, though, the STLD is the last defender except for the goalkeeper.

 

Note the new language in Law 11 defining an OSP. It was expanded this year to include explicitly the possibility that the last two defenders are themselves even with each other. Most referees probably did not need this reminder. Nevertheless, the reminder in the Law is there and the situation needs to be taken into account.

 

Second, remember that all defenders on the field are taken into account. This specifically includes a defender who may happen to be way on the other side of the field, all alone, picking daisies or watching the clouds go by. Even though this player may be lost to the game, for all practical purposes, he or she remains a player and must be counted in determining who is the STLD. More pointedly, this also means that the STLD may actually be on the ground with something less than a serious injury (if it were truly serious, of course, we would have stopped play). Do not be misled into thinking that this player does not count.

 

In fact, even a defender who is off the field entirely must, under certain circumstances, be considered a STLD! Picture the following sequence of play (which actually occurred in an MLS match this past season). A1 and B2 are competing for the ball while running toward B’s goal line. Their momentum carries them off the field (just as B2 clears the ball 20 yards upfield) but, while a few yards off the field across the goal line, they become tangled and both fall to the ground. A1 is the first to recover and he immediately returns to the field just as his teammate controls the ball and passes it forward to A1. At this moment, B2 is still off the field, the defending goalkeeper is on the goal line, and the next player up is A1!

 

Is A1 in an OSP? No. Although off the field, B2 must be counted as one of the last two defenders (it doesn’t matter which one, last or second to last), just as though he were standing on the goal line. This is because, having left the field "in the normal course of play," B2 does not require the referee’s permission to return and could return at any time. The fact that he may be unable to do so is not relevant (any more than if he were slightly injured and laying on the field of play itself). If the injury is serious enough, it is the referee’s responsibility to stop play but, barring that, it is the referee’s responsibility to include B2 in determining STLD and OSP.

 

What if B2 had requested and received the referee’s permission to leave or be off the field? Then clearly B2 would not be taken into account in OSP decisions, but just as clearly he could not legally return to the field except with the referee’s permission.

 

What if B2 had left the field in an attempt to place A1 in an OSP? Although this is not the scenario we have been discussing, recall that the referee is expected to include B2 as among the last two defenders and, furthermore, to caution B2 at the next stoppage for unsporting behavior. What if B2 had left the field normally but, in the opinion of the referee, had deliberately stayed off in an attempt to place A1 in an OSP? Same solution.

 

What if B2 had left the field normally but across a touch line rather than the goal line? The same principle is applied. Treat B2 as though we were still on the field, standing approximately on the touch line nearest to where he currently is.

 

The solution to this problem, then, is that even defenders off the field temporarily (in the normal course of play, not deliberately to cause an OSP) must be counted in determining where the last and then the second to last defender are. They are considered to be still on the field, in effect in a position on the line closest to where they are.

 

Referees need to be sure they have covered these possibilities in their pre-game discussion, particularly since the lead assistant referee (LAR) keeps track of where the STLD is at any given moment. It is the LAR who needs to assess the circumstances under which a defender has left the field (particularly if that player was a fullback or goalkeeper) and thus whether to include that player in making a decision about OSP. It also suggests, however, that the referee needs to be very clear and public about granting permission to leave the field during play.