A&H

Has anyone ever had this happen ..?

Alex71

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Level 5 Referee
LOTG - offside - p109

" ... Any defending player leaving the field of play for any reason without the referee’s permission shall be considered to be on his own goal line or touch line for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play ..."

If I read this correctly - for example - a player who steps off the pitch 40 yards from goal is deemed to (also) be actually on the Goal Line - in effect making the GK the 2nd last defender

Is this correct ..?
Has anyone actually seen this happen ..?

Thanks
 
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LOTG - offside - p109
" ... Any defending player leaving the field of play for any reason without the referee’s permission shall be considered to be on his own goal line or touch line for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play ..."
No Alex. You've only quoted part of the paragraph. The player is treated as on whichever line they have deliberate left the FOP by. So, if they step off over the goal line they are on it, if they are 40 yards up and step over the touchline, they are treated as though standing on the line. Full wording is below.
LOTG p109 said:
Any defending player leaving the field of play for any reason without the referee’s permission shall be considered to be on his own goal line or touch line for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play. If the player leaves the field of play deliberately, he must be cautioned when the ball is next out of
play.
 
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Thanks for a quick response!

I left out the bit about cautions, etc as I am OK / clear with that bit

I was trying to read it as what would be the maximum punishment for a defender for their unsporting action!

So - instead - in the example - I should imagine the player on a line across the pitch at 40 yards - and - if necessary - position myself there even if the 2nd last defender on the pitch is on the half-way line ..?

I think this might make more sense than the draconian punishment I had in mind - however - I don't think it is 100% clear in LOTG (or am I trying to find something that isn't there!?)
 
I would suggest the LOTG give the impression the GK does become 2nd last defender as the misconduct by defending team shouldn't disadvantage attack and therefore attack get an advantage.

Just how I read it!
 
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The LOTG don't differentiate between a goal keeper and a defender when it comes to offside. They are just "opponents".

If you are AR it is something to watch (and bear in mind if your alone in the middle). If the defenders momentum takes him off the pitch, you have to switch concentration to the new 2nd last opponent which could be the goal keeper.
 
Happened on my first line this season. Defender stepped behind the line into the goal (IMO deliberately) leaving just the keeper between attacker and goal-line. Attacker scored and player went mental saying that he was off the pitch and therefore can't play him onside. The ref giving him a quick LOTG lesson and a nice £15 fine for a dissent caution didn't improve his mood much either!
 
Should it have been a caution for deliberately leaving the field of play with permission?
 
That's why I added the deliberately part. I think the ref, if he wanted to picky, could have cautioned him twice. But I personally wouldn't have done. I wasn't confident enough that the reason he did it was to deliberately cheat the rules (even though it didn't matter coz he didn't know them!) as he may have taken that position to block any shot to that side and noticed he was a foot in the goal after it had gone in.
 
lol auto correct got me! Or am I just that mean!

"Can I go off the pitch ref?"

"Yes, no worries..... GOTCHA!"
 
For some reason the 'permission' comment reminded me of the joke about the black guy being transferred to a South African prison during the days of Apartheid, talking to the two white guys in the same van

he asked the first white guy how long he had been sentenced to.

'Twenty years' he replied

'What for', asked the black guy

'Armed robbery with violence' he replied

'And how about you' the black guy said to the other white guy, 'how long were you sentenced to?'

'Thirty years' the man replied

'And can I ask what that was for'

'Murder' replied the second white man

'And what sentence did you get?', one of the white guys asked the black man

'40 years' said the black guy

'Good grief', said the white man, 'what crime were you found guilty of?'

'Riding my bike without lights', replied the black man

'That's outrageous' said the white guy

'I know' said the black man. 'Though it could have been worse'

'How do you mean', said the white guy

'The black man replied, ' Well I'm just thankful that it wasn't dark at the time'
 
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