"FLAG DOWN....oops!"

[stevesmith]

Team A is on a fast break when you throw a flag for Team B being offside. You immediately realize you've made a mistake and Team B is not offside. Do you....

A) do nothing until the ball hits the ground as you normally would on a flag down,

B) blow the whistle immediately a give possession to Team A,

C) other.

I was asked this question as it occurred in a game over the weekend that I didn't see. There was apparantly some heated debate after the game. I honestly don't remember what was done at the time. My opinion was to go with Option C. I think had it been me, I would have just picked up my flag and yelled, "No flag, no flag"!!! I was thinking in terms of what would I do if the flag had just fallen out as I was running.

Thoughts???

[Snake~eyes]

I think by rule you have to do A, blow it dead and wave the flag off.

If the team with the ball doesn't have a fast break then I would blow it dead immediately and clear things up. In your scenario I don't think you can do your option because its not fair. What if kids dont hear your no flag yelling, stop playing and didn't get the ball because they stopped? Or the goalie stops when it hits the ground and a player kicks it in?

I would have to do A, unless there was no fast break then I would do B. But I don't like C.

[stevesmith]

Hmmmm.....not a bad argument. Not sure I really like any of the options!

[RILAX]

This is what I would do:

First try and get a stoppage of play while team A had the ball. However since team A is on a fast break and an immediate stoppage can be more detrimental to the team than so of the other options available I would hold off the whistle. This however creates its own problems if A does not score or back out of the fast break. Once anything that can stop a slow whistle takes place the ball needs to become immediately dead. Now if the ball became dead because team B had possession of the ball or the ball became dead in the crease I would say that B would keep the ball. Also if the ball was loose or a shoot missed the goal and became dead outside of the crease I would give the ball to the team with the A.P. arrow.

Not a happy situation all around.

[Snake~eyes]

This is why we should take time making the offsides call. It is, in my opinion the hardest call to make, so take your time.