Table of Contents
- The offside rule for beginners
- What happens if you’re offside in soccer?
- How is offside indicated?
- Do offside goals count in soccer?
- Does VAR get involved in offside calls?
- What are semi-automated offsides?
- Recap: The offside rule for beginners
When the assistant referee indicates an offside, this is a cause of despair and frustration for the attacking team, but a reprieve for the defensive side – amplified further in the world of VAR!
The offside rule has been part of the beautiful game’s rules for decades, but what exactly does it mean? How does it work? And are there quirks to the rule?
This article will examine everybody there is to know about the offside rule for beginners so that you have a better understanding of it and how it’s applied.
The offside rule for beginners
Essentially, there must be two defending players between you and the opposition’s goal when you’re in the attacking half of the field, otherwise, you are in an offside position.
For offside to be awarded against an attacker, all of the below criteria must be met when a teammate plays the ball:
- Having fewer than two defending players between the attacker and the goal they’re attacking.
- Being in the opposition’s half of the pitch.
- Being active (meaning interfering with play or being in a position where you could interfere with play).
- Any other body part except the arms are in an offside position.
This doesn’t mean that the referee will definitely blow for offside, however, as they will only do so if the ball is played forward into an area that you can feasibly interfere with play. This means that it’s legal to linger in an offside position as long as the ball isn’t being played into an area where you will be considered active.
People often assume that only one defending player needs to be between the attacker and the goal for the attacker to be onside, but this isn’t the case. The goalkeeper counts as one of those two defending players that the law stipulates but is so rarely in advanced positions that attackers normally only need to be on the right side of one defending player.
You can’t be offside from corners, goal kicks, or throw-ins, nor can you be offside if the ball is played to you erroneously by an opponent.
What happens if you’re offside in soccer?
If you’re in an offside position and interfering with play, the assistant referee will indicate this to the referee.
Once it’s been decided that there has been an offside infringement, play will be halted and an indirect free kick to the opposition will be awarded from where the player was adjudged to be offside.
As we’ll explain, the VAR reviews every goal or penalty incident for offside. Also, any offside that is eventually flagged but left to play on because it was dubious is checked by the VAR too.
Being offside is not a bookable offense in soccer and will only result in an indirect free kick to the opposition.
How is offside indicated?
An offside is indicated when the assistant referee who is officiating the half of the pitch the ball is in play raises their flag before lowering it horizontally, pointing across the pitch in roughly the line the player was offside.
VAR has made this slightly more confusing for officials and fans alike, but if the assistant referee believes the offside decision is obvious, they will alert the referee immediately.
However, if it’s a close call but they feel it probably is offside, the assistant referee will usually not signal anything until the attack is over. If the play results in a goal or penalty incident, the VAR will review it to assess whether the call was correct or not.
Do offside goals count in soccer?
No, offside goals don’t count. If you are deemed offside by the match officials, any scoring chance is deemed redundant and a free-kick to the defensive team is awarded.
However, because of how VAR is implemented across most leagues, if a goal is scored then the official raises their flag to indicate offside once the play is over, the VAR will review the decision. If it appears that the assistant referee made a mistake, a goal can then be awarded – but this isn’t viewed as an “offside goal” because the attacker was actually onside.
Also, the on-field referee’s decision in any match is final. Therefore, if they believe that the offside decision made by the assistant referee is wrong, they can overrule them, but this is extremely rare because assistant referees have the best view to judge from.
Does VAR get involved in offside calls?
Yes, VAR regularly checks potential offside incidents and overturns the referee’s decision when on-field decisions are deemed incorrect.
In fact, an offside is one of the only instances where a referee will not go to the pitchside monitor to review a contentious decision themselves – the referee will take the VAR’s word that it’s offside or onside and base their decision on that.
Generally speaking, the VAR system works quite well with offsides, but that doesn’t mean it’s been flawless. The first year or two of its usage in the Premier League, for instance, saw long delays to decisions being made and the VAR trying to draw the line to surgical precision when perhaps “benefit of the doubt” would have made more sense.
In Italy, there was an extremely poor error on the part of the VAR when an offside was given against Juventus against Salernitana in a crucial match for the hosts.
Milik thought he’d nodded home the winner for Juve in the 4th minute of stoppage time, only for the VAR to intervene and award an offside, which appeared to be the correct call from the angles everybody was seeing.
However, it wasn’t until after the game that an Italian TV channel had another angle which proved that the goal should have stood and that every Juventus player was clearly onside.European newspapers called it a scandal: how did one Italian channel have an angle that the VAR didn’t have?
Juventus were understandably angry as the game finished 2-2 when the side from Turin should’ve walked away with 3 points.
Check out our opinion piece on whether or not VAR is helping the beautiful game.
What are semi-automated offsides?
A contemporary solution to some of the offside controversy we’ve seen with VAR, semi-automated offsides are a refined and more accurate way of deeming whether a player is offside or not.
Rather than depending on the VAR drawing lines that aren’t entirely accurate, semi-automated offside uses numerous cameras located around the stadium to render a 3D image almost instantly.
Because of its appearance, it’s much more obvious to fans watching on TV whether an offside should be called or not, making it a quicker and far less contentious use of technology than the lines drawn we still see in many top-flight leagues.
Not everybody is a fan of this technology, however. Many purists believe that it will eventually take the job away from the assistant referee running the line entirely.
Recap: The offside rule for beginners
Learning the offside rule from a young age will mean that you intuitively understand the rule as you grow up and position yourself better for your side’s attacks.
While offsides can dampen joyous celebrations, they are a crucial part of the game that is there for the better.