Tickle Tackle - Offside? Or Maybe Not?
It used to be said that women were incapable of understanding the offside law. Now, I'm not so sure anyone does.
If there's one thing that FIFA is good at, it's continually messing around, issuing directives which then often only serve to confuse. They've certainly done a good job with regard to making the offside law a lot clearer – not!
I don't believe Law 11 has actually changed but FIFA seems to have succeeding in making it so that those who were previously confident they fully understood it are now often not so sure.
The current confusion revolves around the guidance re being “active” or “inactive”. It may be well intentioned but the nett result seems to be at odds with the accepted definition of the law.
Fans are confused, players are confused, managers are confused, pundits are confused and it seems even referees and linesmen themselves are also confused because of their inconsistencies in implementation of the law from one game to the next.
I thought Ishmael Miller benefited from the current interpretation in West Brom's FA Cup game at Bristol Rovers on Sunday. The ball actually came to him off the head of a Bristol Rovers defender but he must have been in a position 10 to 15 yards offside when the original ball was played upfield. Correct me if I'm wrong but that would have been given offside before the current guidance was issued.
Although it's actually one of the simplest laws of the game, Law 11 has always generated plenty of discussion and argument on Saturday evenings in the pub or at work during the week. Now, it seems that there's less argument about individual instances and discussion has turned to whether or not the current guidance should be scrapped and we go back to basics.
Sure, there are going to be occasions when a player can count himself unlucky to be given offside but that was always the case.At least everyone used to know where they stood (no pun intended) but know no-one seems to be sure of the situation nowadays That surely can't be right, can it?
© Steve Tickle 2008
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