1. The Basics of the Offside Rule in
Football
Simon Lines
2. What is the Offside Rule?
A player is in an offside position if he is closer to
the goal line than both the ball and the second-
to-last defender, but only if he is in the
opposition half of the field. (FIFA, laws of the game 2012).
11 Players on both teams. 1 goalkeeper and 10 outfield players.
Here is a image of a football pitch. It shows each team with 11 players each. When a player is advanced past the opposition teams defenders and then receive the ball without being in line with the defenders, the attacking player is offside and the assistant referee will raise his flag.
In the picture, Player A is standing in an offside position. If the ball was to be passed to him, he would be ruled offside. However if the player shoots at goal instead of passing it and he scores, the goal will count as player A was not interfering with play. If Player A was standing in the goalkeepers eyeline however, he would be interfering with play and the goal would not be given.
