The Offside Rule Explained

The offside rule in association has been the cause of some of the biggest football controversies over time. Fans and players have always complained about the implementation of the offside rule especially when football games have been won or lost due to the poor implementation of the rule by referees.

The offside rule dates back to the codes of football and was much stricter than the modern game. In some of the rules, if a player was standing in front of the ball he was considered offside. One of the tougher rules was that there were to be at least three defensive members ahead of the attacker. In the 1920’s the offside rule was amended to two instead of three defensive players. To encourage more attacking football, the offside rule was changed in 1990 to consider a player onside if level to the second to last player.

In 2005, the present day offside rule was adopted. In the current rules if any part of a players body is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second last opponent.

The attacking team should make sure that the defending team has at least two players who include the goalkeeper in front of the player furthest forward of the attacking team. All the players of the opposing team should be behind the ball so that it is closer to the defending teams’ goal line.

One offside rule is sometimes confusing. If a player in an offside position is committing an offence if in the opinion of the referee, he is involved in active play at the moment the ball is played by one of his team. This means that a player who runs from an onside position in to an offside position after the ball was touched or played by a team mate is not offside.

Supposing a defending player is outside the field of play and he is between the attacking player and the goal at the time of play. FIFA rules prefer the defensive player to be behind the goal line and not the sideline. The defender should also have the referee’s decision to leave the field otherwise defenders would be leaving the field of play just to play the attacking player offside.

The sanction for an offside offence is an indirect free kick to the opposing team. It should be noted though that referees sometimes use their discretion to allow the continuous flow of the game if the defending team is in possession of the ball at an advantage.

The officiating of the offside offence has been so controversial that the football authorities decided to give more power to assistant referees in making the decisions. This is because the assistant referees are considered closer to the action especially during an offside offence with a clear line of sight. Football fans are no help in officiating with everyone seeing their own version of the offence thus giving the officials a more difficult time while implementing their decision.

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