Football fans and pundits spend many hours berating decisions made by match officials, but surely the current laws in relation to the offside rule are making these guys’ jobs nigh-on impossible now?
Last night’s Holland-Italy match in Euro 2008 perfectly highlighted the nonsense that is the present-day offside rule. The opening goal by Ruud Van Nistelrooy was surely as clear an example as you’re ever going to get of a striker in an offside position scoring a goal, but if you apply the much-maligned ‘letter of the law’ here, the decision to allow the goal to stand was actually correct. Why? Well, an Italian defender, who was OFF the field of play at the time, was playing Van Nistelrooy ONside!
So…when exactly did a player who’s off the pitch become ‘active’?!
I think it was the great Bill Shankly that once said that if a player is on the pitch then he’s interfering with play, and therefore should be flagged offside if he’s in an offside position. This was a very simplistic view and perhaps a little harsh on forwards, but it keeps things easy to understand and provides a clear ‘black and white’ guideline for match officials – none of it is open to their interpretation. There will be those who will feel that this approach is TOO simplistic and that there does need to be an element of individual interpretation in there to allow the game to flow better perhaps, but surely the rules have gone too far in this direction now? No-one seems to know what the hell offside actually is any more!
I can understand why FIFA wanted to implement the laws as they are when it comes to forwards being ‘active’, but classing a player who isn’t even on the field in this way is surely taking thing too far, and making it almost impossible for match officials and supporters alike to follow what is going on. I can understand the principle behind it, but the bottom line is it just doesn’t seem to make any sense to most people – a player who is off the pitch cannot surely be taken into account when flagging for offside.
This is only my opinion of course, and the offside law is such a grey area that there will no doubt be all manner of different angles on last night’s decision. But even if Shankly’s approach to this was too much in the opposite extreme, I do think it’s time for FIFA to start moving back in that direction, otherwise people will continue to be more and more confused…….
Share this article
Related Articles
I’m not so sure about the Italian playing Van Nistelrooy onside. Surely to be able to play someone onside or offside the player needs to be participating in the match by being ON the field of play. Under Law 3 (Field of Play) on the FIFA website it says “If a player accidentally crosses one of the boundary lines of the field of play, he is not deemed to have committed an infringement. Going off the field of play may be considered to be part of a playing movement” fine but Lay 11 (offside) says “If a defending player steps behind his own goal line in order to place an opponent in an offside position, the referee shall allow play to continue and caution the defender for deliberately leaving the field of play without the referee?s permission when the ball is next out of play”. Obviously in this case the Italian didn’t deliberately leave the field of play so perhaps MrH is right and actually Van Nistelrooy was onside – confused??, you will be!
p.s. – do I get a prize for being the most anal?
I think you do – a one-year subscription to the official SFA magazine: “101 ways to make an erse of running a football association”!
congratulations on your fantastic prize!
He was offside it was one of the most ridiculous decisions i have ever seen. I was expecting a decision like that to come from an SPL ref.
well ,,Scott McDonald has never been able to work it out and still managed to emerge as Scotland’s top scorer ,, there,s hope for us yet boys …….!!!
hey !! ” 101 ways to make an erse of running a football association ” !!! ,, when I first joined these sites I was a little / big bit naive in thinking my chosen club was the preferred target of abuse at the mercy of these half – wits and I,m probably still to be completely convinced we aren’t ,, but what Iv,e learned in more recent times is that they are indiscriminate in their discrimination ,, they dont care who they screw !!!!
I didn’t see the game, but I agree wholeheartedly that the offside rule is now beyond comprehension – ironically, its FIFA’s attempts to clarify ansd simplify things in recent years that has had the opposite effect !! Personally, I’d scrap the whole rule – no offisdes at all. It would make for more open play and remove all the controversy. Why should it matter if a forward is 6 inches closer to the goal than a 2nd defender ? Bloody stupid rule, in my opinion. There wouldn’t be an avalanche of goals, because defences would have to learn to tackle and mark better, instead of playing the “offside trap”. Of course, it won’t happen, because too many peoples jobs depend on retaining the controversy – linesmen, TV people, SFA committees etc. By the way, congrats to WishawBoy for seeing the light – well done !!
gonny put it oot ! I,m not so sure it throws me up in the right shadow !! well seen we won the league eh ! thats not dig btw ,,, well …………
Not sure we should scrap it altogether – there’s definitely an art in ‘managing’ offside for both defenders and strikers that probably goes unnoticed to the untrained eye a lot of the time – I think the game would lose something if this was taken away. I’m actually told that they tried this in the 60s for a particular competition whereby offside was only valid within a line 20 yards from each goal – games regularly finished 6-5, etc but teams resorted to just lumping the ball as far forward as they could from defence – not particularly creative!
You are completely misinterpreting the offside rule. While the offensive player must be active in the play and that is a judgment call, it is irrelevant whether or not the defensive player is active. If a defender is standing by the corner flag and a pass comes over the middle to an offensive player behind everyone else, he is not offside. Consider this: team A is taking a corner kick. Team B puts one defender in the post and pushes everyone else up. Everyone is on side. Then just before the kick, the player on the post steps off of the field (or is pushed off by his goalie). By your reasoning, everyone in now offside and the offense can’t score a goal. Don’t say, well the player was hurt, that doesn’t matter. It’s not the referee’s call to decide if a player is hurt or faking it for an advantage. If a player is down, the play continues until the ball is put out of play. If he had been knocked down by his goalie and ended up lying in the field of play would people still complain that his presence doesn’t count?
It’s a pretty easy rule to misinterpret mate! All I’m saying is that the rule should be made simpler for everyone to follow. We can argue about specific occurrences like the match the other night (and my view is that it was offside), but surely simplifying things can only help to make it easier for everyone to understand. Or perhaps it IS easy to understand and the rules haven’t been fully communicated?
Very poor example you have given their Oosty. Firstly, Why would a goalkeeper intentionally push one of his defenders out of play? It’s nonsense. There is no real defence for that decision. It was a shocking one. Can you tell me how a defender sprawled 5 yards behind the goal is seeking to gain an advantage? Surly he is putting his own team at a disadvantage because he is not on the field of play doing what he is supposed to do, DEFEND!
The rule is in place so that the original offside rule cannot be abused. I.e. Should a corner be taken and a defender is marking on the line, he should not be able to step off the line and play everyone offside. That is main component of the rule.
But you are missing the point entirely, in a very naive way. The defender who deliberately steps across the line is DELIBERATLEY seeking to gain an advantage. As said, how can a defender who has come into accidental collision with his GK be accused of manipulation of the rule to his advantage. It’s just absurd!
The linesman made an error, a massive one at that. Harry Redknapp was spot when he was analysing the game. ?The linesman probably didn’t have a clue about that particular rule and just made a bad call? coincidentally their appears to be a mysterious rule that has bailed the linesman out of jail. The goal should not have stood, Van Nistlerooy is offside.