when is offside awarded in football?

Answer 1

A player is in an offside position if "he is nearer to his opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second to last opponent," unless he is in his own half of the field of play. A player level with the second last opponent is considered to be in an onside position. Note that the last two opposing players can be either the goalkeeper and an outfield player, or two outfield players.

It is important to note that being in an offside position is not an offence in itself.

Offside offence
A player in an offside position is only committing an offside offence if, "at the moment the ball touches or is played by one of his team", the player is in an offside position and in the referee's opinion is involved in active play. A player is not committing an offside offence if the player receives the ball directly from a throw-in, goal kick or corner kick.

In order for an offside offence to occur the player must be in an offside position when the ball is touched or played by a team-mate; a player who runs from an onside position into an offside position after the ball was touched or played by a team-mate is not penalised. Similarly, a player who is in an offside position when the ball is touched or played by a team-mate may potentially commit an offside offence even if they run back in to an on-side position before receiving the ball.

Determining whether a player is in "active play" can be complex. FIFA issued new guidelines for interpreting the offside law in 2003 and these were incorporated in law 11 in July 2005. The new wording seeks to more precisely define the three cases as follows:

Interfering with play means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a teammate.
Interfering with an opponent means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent's line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.
Gaining an advantage by being in an offside position includes playing a ball that rebounds to him off a post or crossbar or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position.
In practice, a player in an offside position may be penalised before playing or touching the ball if, in the opinion of the referee, no other team-mate in an onside position has the opportunity to play the ball.

The referees' interpretation of these new definitions is still proving controversial until this day, largely over what movements a player in an offside position can make without being judged to be interfering with an opponent.

Answer 2

whenever the oppsing team player is ahead of the last defender ...and the ball is passed .. AND if that same player is actively taking part in the action or directly touches the ball is an offside....if a player is offside on say the left of your screen but the ball is passed to a player on the right, is onside, then its NOT an offside.....since the player on your left was not involved near the action..... if its a close call of active or not..then its entirely upto the ref...but ne action say inside the 25yard box is normally given offside.......

Answer 3

I actually understand this one after watching too many world cup games to remember. How this works, is you have your last line fo defensemen, usually 3-4 players. They try to hold a solid line if you watch. What happens is if a player from the offense is beyound the last player in that defensive line and the ball is then passed to him while he is beyond that line he is flagged for being offsides.

However, if he is in the middle (parallel) of the line, and the ball is kicked foward and he runs foward to meet the ball he is safe. It all depends on where the player is at when the ball is kicked. Mainly, if the ball is kicked pass the defensemen while he is beyond them he is offsides, but otherwise, it's all fair game.

Answer 4

Offside isn't awarded, it's penalised.

Answer 5

when attaker goes ahead of the defender, before passing the ball

Answer 6

most bedazzling ques. as i can't understand it my self there are so many close calls