Help needed regarding the offside rule

[The vomiting vicar]

I don’t get this craic that when a player receives the ball clearly in an offside position they let play go on then flag once they have had a shot or passed it to someone

 

[red_harrington]

Add it to the mysteries of the pyramids, Stonehenge and the origins of Life

 

[theredrooster]

I don’t get this craic that when a player receives the ball clearly in an offside position they let play go on then flag once they have had a shot or passed it to someone

If we're talking Prem I think it's in case there's a goal and then VAR is looked at and shows the linesman got it wrong and they were actually onside. I'm guessing though.

 

[DCI_Gene_Hunt]

If we're talking Prem I think it's in case there's a goal and then VAR is looked at and shows the linesman got it wrong and they were actually onside. I'm guessing though.

Thats the logic now - if play goes on then VAR can bring it back if its offside but if the linesman flags straight away and the game stops but VAR then shows the player was onside it cannot be rectified.

 

[The vomiting vicar]

Thanks guys my gripe with this rule is that it could lead to a player (defender) chasing back and possibly getting an injury ie hamstring and putting him out of action for weeks

 

[Liamo]

That's nothing to do with the offside law - it's due to the VAR protocol. In fact, it doesn't only apply to offside offences, the same principle should be used for any offence, if appropriate The VAR protocol states as follows:

Delaying the flag/whistle for an offence is only permissible in a very clear attacking situation when a player is about to score a goal or has a clear run into/towards the opponents’ penalty area

So when the AR thinks a call is close and there's a chance a goal might result, they are instructed to delay the flag until either the ball is in the net, or the immediate goal scoring opportunity is over (opposition gets possession, ball goes out of play etc).

The logic behind this is very simple - if the AR flags for the offence immediately and play stops, even if the replay then shows the player wasn't offside, you can't rectify the situation but if a goal is scored and the VAR analysis establishes that there was an offside offence, the goal can be ruled out.

Having said that, if the AR is absolutely sure of the offside (or other offence) they are supposed to flag for it, however I would agree with you that sometimes they do seem to delay the flag even when it's pretty obvious. I think it's understandable why they'd tend to err on the side of caution, though.

 

[Liamo]

Thanks guys my gripe with this rule is that it could lead to a player (defender) chasing back and possibly getting an injury ie hamstring and putting him out of action for weeks

There is that possibility but I think there's a much higher likelihood that they won't. I can't recall a single incident of that happening.

If you went back and compared games from the pre-VAR era with those played since its introduction, I'm pretty sure you'd find a lot more times when a goal/goal scoring opportunity was incorrectly ruled out in the past, than you'd find examples of players pulling a hamstring while chasing a player who later turned out to have been offside after a VAR review.