When to raise the offside flag

[BoomerSooner]

Originally Posted by phatneff

I don't necessarily agree with that. There are times where it is more advantageous for the call NOT to be made than for it to be made. The best example of this is when the ball is in the vicinity of the goalkeeper. If the player is in the offside position and the ball is played to him while on the run, although it gets by him and he is still running to the ball, normally the call would be made. However, if it is rolling to the goalkeeper, it is much more of an advantage for the keeper to have it in his hands than to play it from the ground. I am a goalkeeper and an official and, speaking from experience, would much rather have the ball in my hands than it being spotted at the infraction point. You have more control over that ball at that point.

This can get tricky, but when become experienced enough to judge that, it will be much more beneficial for everyone involved.

The problem with your situation is that if you do not signal the offside and the GK misplays the ball or the attacker gains control before the GK it may be difficult to enforce the offside at this point because you initially ignored it (coaches, fans, players, etc will not understand that call if you make the call that late, granted we aren't there to please the aformentioned groups, you can see the problem). You also have to consider a situation where the ensuing kick after the offside call would be taken from close to midfield, is it really advantageous for the offended team to have the ball in the GK's hands or a free kick at midfield?

The intent of the rule is not to provide the offended team with the most advantageous benefit from the situation, but rather to prevent the offending team from gaining an advantage.

All that said, a ball played deep with an attacker in an offside position, but cannot with even the most exceptional speed get to combined with no attempt to play, I'm probably going to consider it an attempt to clear the ball and let the GK handle it, but that goes back to the attacking team received no advantage from the situation.

[phatneff]

Originally Posted by BoomerSooner

The problem with your situation is that if you do not signal the offside and the GK misplays the ball or the attacker gains control before the GK it may be difficult to enforce the offside at this point because you initially ignored it (coaches, fans, players, etc will not understand that call if you make the call that late, granted we aren't there to please the aformentioned groups, you can see the problem). You also have to consider a situation where the ensuing kick after the offside call would be taken from close to midfield, is it really advantageous for the offended team to have the ball in the GK's hands or a free kick at midfield?

The intent of the rule is not to provide the offended team with the most advantageous benefit from the situation, but rather to prevent the offending team from gaining an advantage.

I disagree with the first and third part of this comment.

1. Your job as an official is to enforce the rules. It is not your job to interpret them (to a point). You have to explain to nobody, except maybe the referee, and if you really feel it's necessary, the offending coach, why you did or did not raise the flag. Who cares if it's late. It's better to make the correct call than the wrong one. If the keeper misplays it and the offender gets it, or if the offender beats the keeper to the ball, what are you saying? You are saying that AT THAT POINT, the offender gained the advantage from being in that offside position, at which case you can raise your flag and bring it back. It's very similar to the advantage clause for a referee to hold off on a foul call until he see the development of the play.

2. I do agree that if the offending player is near midfield, it would be more advantageous to raise the flag and allow the restart to be conducted closer to midfield rather than in the keeper's hands.

3. The intent of the rule is to penalize the offending team and make it the most advantageous to the defending team. You don't want to stop the flow of the game and call a "trifling" offside penalty. If you do stop the game, it should be advantageous to the team that was not at fault.