A&H

offside offence - interfering

M

marshr02

Member
Hi there. Newish Ref. Just seeking clarification over a match incident while as linesman.

Attack is building. The 'back four' are holding a line on edge of penalty area. The goalkeeper is virtually on his line, with a lone striker lingering directly in front of him but about 1m away. The ball is played to a winger. Obviously the lone striker is in an offside position, and as AR I'm looking for possibility of interfering with GK. My opinion is he's trying to be a nuisance/distraction for the GK, and also trying to get in the way of the GK moving around his goal area in order to best position for the cross.

Looking at Law 11, specifically interfering it breaks down interfering into; 1) blocking vision, 2) challenging for ball, 3) attempt to play when ball close impacting oppo, 4) making obvious action impacting oppo ability to play ball.

The ball is now with the winger, the lone striker is being a pain, but 1m away. In the spirit of the game he's already interfering IMHO, but the laws don't specifically cover it.

Any advice greatfully received.

Cheers
 
The Referee Store
This is one of the classic situations where the LOTG use a word but define it differently to how we would in everyday conversation. In this case as you've correctly identified, interfering has a specific definition that doesn't necessarily cover every situation we might intuitively consider to be interfering.

So you need to not judge interfering as you might naturally do it, but instead consider the specific 4 bullet points you've already found. Based on your description, the attacker is doing none of those 4 things, so cannot be interfering and there is no offside, even if you think he might be interfering in reality.

It's also worth highlighting the question of timing. You mention the ball is played to the winger, so there's a moment there where offside might be possible, as the ball is played. But after that moment, while the winger holds possession and/or if they play a cross while the striker is behind the ball, they can't then be offside even if they do start to interfere.

You either need to wait for a "forward cross" (i.e. where the ball is crossed on the diagonal and the striker is ahead of the spot where the ball is kicked from, assuming no other defenders get involved) to then make an offside decision, or wait for the interference to rise to the level where it justifies a DFK - which in most cases will be the referee's call rather than yours as AR.
 
Just as an interesting next step. The ball is with the winger who is holding possession... meanwhile the keeper tries to move around the box and is effectively getting blocked in every direction he goes (there is now contact).... while that is not 'interfering' as per the 4 bullet points, is it not a Law 12 offence, such as holding?
 
marshr02 said:
Just as an interesting next step. The ball is with the winger who is holding possession... meanwhile the keeper tries to move around the box and is effectively getting blocked in every direction he goes (there is now contact).... while that is not 'interfering' as per the 4 bullet points, is it not a Law 12 offence, such as holding?
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It can be an offence without contact as well.
The offence would be "impeding progress of opponent", which can be done without contact (IDFK) and with contact (DFK)
 
Thanks for further reply. Obviously straying away from main topic, but interesting. Some PL teams now use 'blockers' at corners, which in a away is what this lone striker is trying to achieve. My guess is you are allowed to 'just be' in your position, and if that happens to be in the way so be it,,, but if you actively try to move to block then the offence occurs?
 
marshr02 said:
Thanks for further reply. Obviously straying away from main topic, but interesting. Some PL teams now use 'blockers' at corners, which in a away is what this lone striker is trying to achieve. My guess is you are allowed to 'just be' in your position, and if that happens to be in the way so be it,,, but if you actively try to move to block then the offence occurs?
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That's generally how I will explain it. Blocker can stand where they want, but if they move to get in the keepers way or lean back into the keeper (or a blocker-blocker!) with enough force then I'll give the FK against them. Correct in law? Dunno, but it's simple to understand and broadly accepted.

And similarly for the blocker-blocker - they can wedge themselves in the gap between keeper and blocker, but as soon as they grab the blocker to stop them getting away or push them off, they're opening themselves up to a possible penalty.

Proactive refereeing recommends keeping an eye on them and whistling the play dead before the corner if you think they're likely to offend - it stops you having to give a surprise penalty and you can then pull them aside, give them a lecture and massively reduce the surprise if you do end up calling a foul after.
 
GraemeS said:
That's generally how I will explain it. Blocker can stand where they want, but if they move to get in the keepers way or lean back into the keeper (or a blocker-blocker!) with enough force then I'll give the FK against them. Correct in law? Dunno, but it's simple to understand and broadly accepted.

And similarly for the blocker-blocker - they can wedge themselves in the gap between keeper and blocker, but as soon as they grab the blocker to stop them getting away or push them off, they're opening themselves up to a possible penalty.

Proactive refereeing recommends keeping an eye on them and whistling the play dead before the corner if you think they're likely to offend - it stops you having to give a surprise penalty and you can then pull them aside, give them a lecture and massively reduce the surprise if you do end up calling a foul after.
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Following this with interest. What would you whistle for if nothing has yet happened? You can't proactively stop a potential foul can you?
 
MumRef said:
Following this with interest. What would you whistle for if nothing has yet happened? You can't proactively stop a potential foul can you?
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If play hasn't started you can certainly delay the restart to talk to the folks who are jostling. (Watch corner kicks and free kicks in the professional games, and you'll see this happen regularly.) It lets players know you are watching them and can cut down on misbehavior. And if you call the foul coming out, it's tough for them to complain, as they were just warned.
 
MumRef said:
Following this with interest. What would you whistle for if nothing has yet happened? You can't proactively stop a potential foul can you?
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You can, and the laws document says that you should. See extract below from the "Guidelines for Match Officials" section.

Referees are reminded to make an early intervention and to deal firmly with holding offences, especially inside the penalty area at corner kicks and free kicks. To deal with these situations:

the referee must warn any player holding an opponent before the ball is in play

caution the player if the holding continues before the ball is in play
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MumRef said:
Following this with interest. What would you whistle for if nothing has yet happened? You can't proactively stop a potential foul can you?
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Yeah, as others have pointed out, the original question was about a possible incident in open play (where you obviously can't proactively stop play) but the discussion then moved on to a discussion about similar action just before a corner - which is a different situation that does have room in to be proactive.

Play doesn't start until you're ready for it to start. In this situation, the whistle isn't you "stopping play" as such, it's more you alerting the corner taker and everyone in the middle that you're not yet ready for a particular reason.

Have a think as well about the whistles that you're making - if you ever feel the need to whistle to start play from a corner, it will usually be one quick peep. So if you're looking to delay that restart, you should take care to make a different noise - either a longer and louder blast, or a series of quick notes, so that it's obviously different from a quick "get on with it" whistle.
 
A different possible offence to look out for on the same case, which happens more frequently at grassroots than PL is a push by the keeper on the back of the 'blocker' to free space for himself. This often happens after the corner kick has been taken and before the blocker comtitting any offence. Giving a pen surprises just about everyone. Its a tough situation to be in and there is no real cure but proactive prevention as per posted above.
 
GraemeS said:
Yeah, as others have pointed out, the original question was about a possible incident in open play (where you obviously can't proactively stop play) but the discussion then moved on to a discussion about similar action just before a corner - which is a different situation that does have room in to be proactive.

Play doesn't start until you're ready for it to start. In this situation, the whistle isn't you "stopping play" as such, it's more you alerting the corner taker and everyone in the middle that you're not yet ready for a particular reason.

Have a think as well about the whistles that you're making - if you ever feel the need to whistle to start play from a corner, it will usually be one quick peep. So if you're looking to delay that restart, you should take care to make a different noise - either a longer and louder blast, or a series of quick notes, so that it's obviously different from a quick "get on with it" whistle.
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OK, I thought the thread was saying to stop open play to give a warning. This makes sense.
 
one said:
A different possible offence to look out for on the same case, which happens more frequently at grassroots than PL is a push by the keeper on the back of the 'blocker' to free space for himself. This often happens after the corner kick has been taken and before the blocker comtitting any offence. Giving a pen surprises just about everyone. Its a tough situation to be in and there is no real cure but proactive prevention as per posted above.
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Aha. Now I'm a bit confused. Is it that people can't obstruct but if they do and I don't stop them then the keeper pushes them, the keeper is penalised for the push with a penalty kick?
 
MumRef said:
Aha. Now I'm a bit confused. Is it that people can't obstruct but if they do and I don't stop them then the keeper pushes them, the keeper is penalised for the push with a penalty kick?
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That would be correct, so penalising the outfield player if they commit any offence would be the safe outcome
 
MumRef said:
Aha. Now I'm a bit confused. Is it that people can't obstruct but if they do and I don't stop them then the keeper pushes them, the keeper is penalised for the push with a penalty kick?
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Depends. What do you mean by obstruct? The attacking team, like the GK, is entitled to an6 position it wants at the taking of the kick. So standing in front of the GK is perfectly legal. Moving to obstruct the GK once the ball is kicked would be an obstruction offense on the attacker. But if attacker stands still and the GK simply pushes him forcefully away after the ball is kicked, that would indeed be a PK for a pushing offense by the GK. when there are shenanigans around the GK, this is why we step in and tell them to knock it off—it means they know you are watching them. (I would add that the PK should only be called if it is really clear the GK is at fault. If an attacker is being a knucklehead, the benefit of doubt goes very much to the GK, not the attacker.) I’d also note that while afoul cannot be called for anything that happens before the kick is taken (as the ball is not in play), at a sufficient level a caution for USB can be given--rare, but possible, especially if someone unreasonably messes with the GK after being warned.
 
Indeed, what is the difference between block and obstruct? In today's U16 match there was an attacking team member right in front of the goalkeeper, but the GK was able to get around him when the ball was kicked so I didn't call for anything. I guess that is blocking rather than obstructing.
 
MumRef said:
Indeed, what is the difference between block and obstruct? In today's U16 match there was an attacking team member right in front of the goalkeeper, but the GK was able to get around him when the ball was kicked so I didn't call for anything. I guess that is blocking rather than obstructing.
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Was the attacker there already, or did he move into the path or with the GK? If he moves into the path of the GK and forces the GK to change path, that is obstructio. If there was no contact, it is an IFK offense; if there was contact, it is a DFK offense.
 
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