Hanging Judge | The more the law changes, the more it stays the same

It used to be one of the easiest and shortest laws of the game, but Law 11, which deals with offside, has become one of the most contentious and argued about laws in association football.

Back in the day, the rule of thumb was that if an attacker was level with the second last defender, they were offside.

I remember, in my early days, a senior referee whom I was running the line for telling me: “If he’s nearly onside, he’s definitely offside.”

I never forgot those words.

This rule was later reviewed and revised because the International Football Association Board, which is responsible for any and all new law changes and interpretations, felt that some teams were becoming too negative and defensive.

It then said that if a player was level with the second last defender, they would be onside, and that’s effectively the situation today.

So a player has to be in front of the second last defender to be offside and, if there’s doubt, the benefit of the doubt goes to the attacking player.

For clarity, the law doesn’t mean two defenders in the true sense of the word – as in two outfield defenders – because one of the two defenders can be the goalkeeper.

Fast forward to today and the introduction of the video assistant referee system has broken down the rule of offside to millimetres, hence the increasingly loud arguments.

Let me state here and now that it is not the easiest thing to be an assistant referee because of all the scrutiny, with television action replays from several angles.

Assistant referees only get one shot at making the right decision.

Listening to some commentators and pundits, you’d think they were experts at running the line, what with the speed with which they point fingers at the unfortunate assistants.

The offside rule in today’s terms is so technical that, to many a coach and manager, it is spoiling the game.

Remember that the same coaches and managers are the ones bitching and moaning when they think they are being hard done by when a decision goes against them, even though they aren’t on the line.

But that’s an argument for another day.

It’s important to note that any part of the body that you can score with – this includes your head, torso, shoulder, buttocks, legs or feet – can make you offside.

If any of the aforementioned parts of the body are in front of the second last defender at the moment the ball is touched or played by an attacker, they are offside.

I’ve seen some instances when a player was ruled offside because their foot, toe, knee, torso or head was millimetres in front of the second last defender.

That, according to the interpretation today, is grounds for a player to be ruled offside.

Like most people, including managers, coaches, players and even fans, you might be saying that it is too close.

Perhaps it is, but it was always like that, except that, back in the day, it couldn’t be picked up by the naked eye in the full force of battle.

It makes one wonder how many times goals were allowed or disallowed by such fine margins in the past.

I would venture a guess of several hundred.

However, if I may paraphrase, it is not an offence to be in an offside position.

You have to be interfering with play, interfering with an opponent or actually seeking to gain an advantage by being in that position for it to be considered offside.

In the meantime, stay safe, stay well and keep your distance during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Please feel free to make comments or ask questions.

Happy whistling!

Follow me on Twitter @dr_errol

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