{
  "id": "how-offside-actually-works",
  "type": "guide",
  "name": "How offside actually works",
  "summary": "A step-by-step walk through Law 11 as published in the 2026/27 Laws of the Game: what an offside position is, why position alone is never an offence, the three forms of active involvement, the exempt restarts, and how the offence is sanctioned.",
  "locale": "en",
  "tags": [
    "guide",
    "offside",
    "laws-of-the-game",
    "refereeing"
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "rel": "explains",
      "target": "law-11-offside"
    },
    {
      "rel": "defines_term",
      "target": "offside"
    }
  ],
  "questions": [
    "How does the offside rule work?",
    "Why was that goal not offside?",
    "When is offside judged - when the ball is passed or received?"
  ],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": "c1",
      "text": "Offside position is judged at the moment the ball is played or touched by a team-mate, not when the receiving player touches it.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-law-11-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.96
    },
    {
      "id": "c2",
      "text": "A player is in an offside position when any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents' half (excluding the halfway line) and nearer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent; hands and arms of all players, including goalkeepers, are excluded.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-law-11-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.97
    },
    {
      "id": "c3",
      "text": "The offence requires active involvement: interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage from a rebound or deflection off a post, crossbar, match official or opponent, or from a deliberate save.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-law-11-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.96
    },
    {
      "id": "c4",
      "text": "There is no offside offence from a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick, and the sanction for an offence is an indirect free kick where the offence occurred.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-law-11-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.97
    },
    {
      "id": "c5",
      "text": "In VAR competitions, offside position is a factual decision that may be resolved by a VAR-only review, without the referee viewing the footage at the screen.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-var-protocol-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.92
    },
    {
      "id": "c6",
      "text": "A deliberate play by an opponent (control of the ball with the possibility of passing, gaining possession or clearing) resets offside for a positioned receiver, but a deliberate save - stopping or attempting to stop a ball going into or very close to the goal - does not.",
      "sources": [
        "ifab-law-11-2026-27"
      ],
      "confidence": 0.94
    }
  ],
  "takeaways": [
    "Offside is judged when the ball is played by a team-mate, not when it is received.",
    "Position alone is never an offence - active involvement is required.",
    "Level with the second-last opponent is onside, and arms never count.",
    "A deliberate defensive play resets offside; a deliberate save does not.",
    "There is no offside directly from throw-ins, corners or goal kicks."
  ],
  "faqs": [],
  "evidence_tier": "primary",
  "evidence": {
    "level": "industry_observation",
    "source_types": [
      "industry_observation"
    ]
  },
  "moat_flag": true,
  "winning_edge": "Most offside explainers answer \"what is offside\" with a diagram and stale wording; this guide walks the actual 2026/27 decision sequence a referee applies, with every step bound to the current IFAB text.",
  "confidence": 0.95,
  "last_verified": "2026-08-08",
  "body": "# How offside actually works\n\nOffside is applied as a sequence of questions, in order. Position first,\ninvolvement second, sanction last. Miss the order and you get the folk\nversion of the rule wrong.\n\n## Step 1 - Freeze the moment\n\nEverything is judged at the moment the ball is played or touched by a\nteam-mate — not when the pass arrives. A player who is level when the ball\nis struck and two metres beyond the defence when receiving it is onside.\n\n## Step 2 - Is the player in an offside position?\n\nA player is in an offside position when:\n\n- any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents' half (the\n  halfway line itself does not count), and\n- that part is nearer to the opponents' goal line than both the ball and\n  the second-last opponent (the last opponent is usually, but not\n  necessarily, the goalkeeper).\n\nHands and arms are excluded for every player, including the goalkeepers. A\nplayer level with the second-last opponent, or with the last two opponents,\nis not in an offside position.\n\n## Step 3 - Did the player become actively involved?\n\nBeing in an offside position is not an offence. The offence happens only if\nthe positioned player becomes involved in active play by:\n\n1. **Interfering with play** — playing or touching a ball passed or touched\n   by a team-mate.\n2. **Interfering with an opponent** — for example blocking the line of\n   vision, challenging for the ball, or making an obvious action that\n   clearly impacts an opponent's ability to play the ball.\n3. **Gaining an advantage** — playing a ball that rebounds or deflects off\n   the goalpost, crossbar, a match official or an opponent, or that was\n   deliberately saved by any opponent.\n\n## Step 3b - Did a defender deliberately play the ball?\n\nThe clause that decides most modern controversies: a positioned attacker\nwho receives the ball from an opponent who **deliberately played** it —\nincluding by deliberate handball — has not gained an advantage, and is\nnot offside. Deliberate play means the defender had control of the\nsituation: the possibility of passing, gaining possession, or clearing\nthe ball. The Law's own indicators include a ball travelling from\ndistance in clear view, moving slowly, arriving from an expected\ndirection, and time to coordinate a non-instinctive movement.\n\nThe exception inside the exception: a **deliberate save** — stopping or\nattempting to stop a ball going into or very close to the goal, by any\nopponent, not just the goalkeeper — does *not* reset offside.\n\n## Step 4 - Check the restart exemptions\n\nThere is no offside offence when the ball is received directly from a goal\nkick, a throw-in or a corner kick. \"Directly\" matters: a flick-on by a\nteam-mate re-opens Law 11.\n\n## Step 5 - Sanction\n\nThe referee awards an indirect free kick where the offence occurred — which\ncan be in the offending player's own half.\n\n## Where VAR fits\n\nIn competitions using VAR, offside position is a factual matter: the VAR\ncan check it and the decision can be corrected without the referee going to\nthe screen, unlike subjective judgements such as interference with an\nopponent.",
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    "name": "How offside actually works",
    "description": "A step-by-step walk through Law 11 as published in the 2026/27 Laws of the Game: what an offside position is, why position alone is never an offence, the three forms of active involvement, the exempt restarts, and how the offence is sanctioned.",
    "url": "https://futbolatlas.app/k/how-offside-actually-works",
    "license": "https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html",
    "dateModified": "2026-08-08",
    "citation": [
      {
        "@type": "CreativeWork",
        "name": "Law 11 — Offside (Laws of the Game 2026/27)",
        "url": "https://www.theifab.com/laws/latest/offside/"
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        "name": "Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol (Laws of the Game 2026/27)",
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    "headline": "How offside actually works"
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