'Wait and see' on offsides

DVD circulated
UEFA, through its Referees' Committee, has circulated a DVD to all of the EURO 2004™ teams, as well as to other interested parties. It shows in particular how assistant referees will interpret and apply the offside law in the tournament in Portugal, by giving various examples from recent matches.

Careful decision
In the DVD, it is emphasised that assistants will have to be aware of the moment that the ball is played, and then wait and see carefully, so that they can judge whether a player is subsequently involved in active play before raising their flag - even if this may not be to the pleasure of players, coaches and fans.

Slower - but correct
As a result, the flag signals may appear late. Nevertheless, the European body says in the DVD that it will be better for assistant referees to be slightly slower in signalling and correct in their judgement, rather than flagging too soon and incorrectly, thereby halting a promising attacking move which might result in a goal being scored.

Offside law
The offside rule at EURO 2004™ will be applied in accordance with Law 11 of the Laws of the Game, which stipulates that a player is in an offside position if he is nearer to his opposition goalline than both the ball and the second-last opponent. However, the law states clearly that a player is not in an offside position if he is in his own half of the field of play, or if he is level with the second last opponent, or if he is level with the last two opponents.

Offside position
The law states emphatically that it is not an offence in itself to be in an offside position. A player in an offside position is only penalised if at the moment the ball touches, or is played by, one of his team, he is involved in active play in the opinion of the referee.

Active play
'Involved in active play' means interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage by being in that position. However, for a player to be guilty of an offside offence, he has to be in an offside position when the ball is touched or played by one of his team, and then also be involved in active play in one of these ways.

Other possibilities
Even then, the law gives three further possibilities when no offside offence can occur - there is no offside situation if a player receives a ball directly from a goal-kick, a throw-in, or a corner. The DVD will be used in particular by UEFA's 52 member associations to explain the offside law, which is often a considerable source of contention.

Proven teams
Meanwhile, UEFA is confident that its decision to appoint 12 proven and experienced refereeing trios from the same country to officiate at finals matches will prove a positive step in achieving consistent decision-making - including the increasingly ticklish area of offside.