Every Player, Coach, Referee and Spectator should watch this!
The Offside rule does not come into play until the players have reached the under 10 divisions in most cases, and it is one of the most misunderstood rules in Soccer by; players, coaches, spectators, and YES; even young referees. I have seen all of the afore mentioned get it wrong and get into arguments over the ruling.
- Don't argue
- If you have a problem with a young referee take it up with the director or referee's within the club. Most of the referee's are children learning how to become a better referee
- We all make mistakes; get over it
Anyway...
I have seen many papers, animations, or listened to discussions on the "Offside Rule" and this is by far the best example I have seen as of writing this article.
Whether you are a player, coach, referee, or spectator you should look at this example.
This comes to you compliments of FIFA:
Well, the answer to:
"Has the offside law changed or not changed?"
is now available. It has!
Although there is much that is not new, in essence, what the new interpretation says is that if an attacking player is in an offside position, but is not interfering with an opponent, the referee [and, assistant referee] must wait until the player touches the ball before blowing the whistle. Just moving towards the ball is no longer enough.
You can watch animations of multiple situations here:
http://www.fifa.com/en/news/feature/0,1451,107252,00.html
Click on the "For more information..." link in the article, and then press the forward-motion button repeatedly to view the various situations.
