New Changes to The Laws of the Game

As the refs are updating their licenses, they are seeing changes to the LOTG. Below are just a couple, paraphrased for simplicity. Add more if you know them.

For Offside calls, the ball is spotted where the offside player touches the ball. Previously, the ball was spotted where the player was located when offside was called.

For Penalty Kicks, the ref flips a coin twice. The first flip determines which goal to shoot on. The second flip is for who shoots first.

I'm not sure I like the new ruling for offside calls. I see a LOT of angry parents on the sidelines in the future. That translates to pissed off referees, delayed games and a lot of verbal exchanges. Yay!

also, on the offside, if the defender touches the ball in attempt to play it,  but the ball continues to an attacking player in an offside position, the attacker will no longer be penalized.  referees previously called offside if the defender did not control the ball, i.e. treated it like a deflection.  under the new interpretation, a deflection off the defender still results in an offside.

I seriously doubt that parents will be upset over the ball placement since their judgment on the player being offside is usually the opposite of reality, i.e. they will be arguing the call itself.

the best law change is that the ball may be played in any direction on a kick-off.

the law changes have been in effect for USSF-sanctioned games since last summer.

I was watching a game at FCD Field 2 this past weekend. This is a turf field but is marked for football. During the game, I was thinking how the new offside rule would apply. I can't see this working well and it also raised several questions for me.

Here is one example. A player was called offside at the 40. However, he ran down and touched it at around the 10. That's 30 yards of field advantage given to the team that drew the call. How is that fair?

This also raises the question, when does the linesman raise the flag to call the offside? If he raises his flag where the person was first seen as offsides, players could just let up off the play allowing the ball to go farther down the field before it is touched. Does he raise it when the player touches the ball? In the scenario I described above, the keeper could come out to contest the player and potentially get hurt for no reason at all.

Now I start thinking about the younger kids. You know there are many teams that don't have a strong kicker. In the play I described earlier, that 30 yards is huge. I can see a coach intentionally creating offside plays just to move the ball farther down the field and take advantage of the fact the other team can't kick the ball out.

Not sure if this rule change is a good one.

I've seen refs raise their flag and the indirect kick awarded where the offense happened and I've seen refs raise their flag, but not make the call until the player touches the ball.

If you are an attacking player and the ref raises his flag, don't touch the ball. Let it roll and no indirect free kick should be given (these usually can be scooped up by the keeper)

A player was called offside at the 40. However, he ran down and touched it at around the 10.

That is the first thing I though of when I read the new ruling. Attacking team can just let the ball run and touch it before it goes out. Get a typical North Texas day with 15-20 mph winds and now the defending team is at a disadvantage; makes the play like a coffin corner punt in football.

What about the times the attacking player never touches the ball; those offside calls going away? Had games where the ref stops play and the offside player never even touches the ball.

to make it even more confusing, advantage will now be applied to offside. This could help in the scenarios above, where if the offside players stops and the defense collects the ball, then the game just keeps going because the offside is no longer a threat.

IMO, they wait to see if the offside player gets to the ball now because they want the game to keep moving. So if the offside player stops, but another attacker that was onside keeps going and gets to the ball, the game keeps going. This definitely makes it harder for the referees, but better for the game.

The big problem is if the offside player keeps going and an onside player goes with him. Does the referee have to wait to see which player gets there first? if its the offside player then they call it but if the onside player gets there first then they let it go?

Interesting point 2T. I haven't seen anyone run that play yet, but it could really work out in your favor. Send a decoy into an offside call to slow the defense, then send an onside finisher, who pounces the ball and takes it to the net. The theory is criminal, but totally legit. I love it!

So this isn't a "play" that was run but this is exactly what I'm describing. The ball was played thru with an attacker offsides. In fact, a defender stepped up in order to pull the attacker offside. Then, Donovan gets to the ball first after making a run from an onside position.

The linesman is supposed to wait until the ball is touched now and this is the reason why. Thoughts?

twotone wrote:
The big problem is if the offside player keeps going and an onside player goes with him. Does the referee have to wait to see which player gets there first? if its the offside player then they call it but if the onside player gets there first then they let it go?

yes and yes, and this is not a new thing.

finish1 wrote:Interesting point 2T. I haven't seen anyone run that play yet, but it could really work out in your favor. Send a decoy into an offside call to slow the defense, then send an onside finisher, who pounces the ball and takes it to the net. The theory is criminal, but totally legit. I love it!

Several years ago, saw the McKinney Boyd girls team massively do this to an opposing team...

Opposing defense pushed up to midfield to trap.  Boyd sent 3 players offside on the attacking left side, then sent a couple players offside on the attacking right side, then a delayed pass up the middle with an onside trailing runner.

Chaos.