Deliberate play
The defender had a real possibility of controlling the ball: time, a clear view, a predictable path, and coordinated movement may point this way. A miskick can still be deliberate play.
FootballIntermediate40 minutes
Offside decision lab
Teach learners to freeze the correct moment, separate position from offence, and judge resets after a defender’s touch. Eight match situations turn Law 11 into a decision process they can explain.
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Teacher guide
Learning objectives
By the end of the lesson, learners should be able to:
- freeze the decision when a team-mate plays or touches the ball;
- use the ball and second-last opponent to judge offside position;
- explain why offside position alone is not an offence;
- identify interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, and gaining an advantage; and
- distinguish a defender’s deliberate play from a deflection or deliberate save.
Decision sequence
Freeze, locate, involve, reset
Offside is a sequence, not a snapshot of where an attacker is when the ball arrives.
The offside line is set by whichever is nearer the goal line: the ball or the second-last opponent. Being level is onside, and a player cannot be offside in their own half.
The four-stage Law 11 check
- 1Freeze the team-mate’s play or touch.
Judge position at that moment—not when the attacker receives the ball.
- 2Locate the attacker.
They are in an offside position only if part of the head, body, or feet is in the opponents’ half and nearer the goal line than both the ball and second-last opponent. Hands and arms do not count.
- 3Look for active involvement.
Did the attacker play the ball, challenge or affect an opponent, block a line of vision, or gain an advantage from a rebound, deflection, or save?
- 4Check for an exception or reset.
There is no offence directly from a goal kick, throw-in, or corner. A defender’s deliberate play can reset offside; a deflection or deliberate save cannot.
Deflection or save
A short, fast ball met by an instinctive stretch is more likely a deflection. A deliberate save—stopping a ball going into or very close to goal—also does not reset offside.
Language of the lesson
Six terms learners need
- Offside position
- A location that can lead to an offence, but is not an offence by itself.
- Second-last opponent
- The opponent used with the ball to set the offside line; this is not necessarily a defender by position.
- Interfering with play
- Playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate.
- Interfering with an opponent
- Preventing an opponent playing the ball, challenging, affecting a clear line of vision, or making an impactful action near the ball.
- Deliberate play
- A controlled attempt to pass, gain possession, or clear the ball, even if the execution fails.
- Deliberate save
- Stopping or attempting to stop a ball going into or very close to goal; it does not reset offside.
40-minute lesson
Teaching sequence
- 0–6
Freeze the moment
Ask learners whether offside is judged when a pass is made or received. Use two learners and a ball to establish the team-mate’s touch as the freeze frame.
- 6–14
Build the position test
Mark a halfway line and an offside line. Move the attacker level, beyond the defender, and behind the ball. Discuss which body parts count.
- 14–22
Add involvement and resets
Contrast an attacker who leaves the ball with one who screens the goalkeeper. Then compare a controlled defensive miskick with an instinctive deflection.
- 22–35
Run the decision lab
Learners complete the eight situations. Require “offside offence” or “play on,” followed by the specific Law 11 reason.
- 35–40
Defend the call
Pairs select the hardest scenario and explain the ruling in no more than two sentences: freeze-frame fact, then involvement or reset.
Sport Rules teaching material · Football
Learner sheet: make the Law 11 call
Choose offside offence or play on, then identify the decisive fact. These situations use the IFAB Laws of the Game 2026/27.
Name
Date
Decision reminder
- Freeze at the team-mate’s touch.
- Check the attacker against the ball and second-last opponent.
- Look for active involvement.
- Test any restart exception, deliberate play, deflection, or save.
- 1
Exactly level
PositionAt the moment a team-mate passes, the attacker’s legally relevant body parts are exactly level with the second-last opponent. The attacker runs through and plays the ball.
Offside offence or play on?
DecisionDecisive fact - 2
Position without involvement
InvolvementOne attacker stands in an offside position but makes no movement toward the pass and does not affect an opponent. An onside team-mate runs onto the ball.
Should the assistant referee penalise the positioned attacker?
DecisionDecisive fact - 3
In the goalkeeper’s view
OpponentAt a team-mate’s shot, an attacker in an offside position stands between the goalkeeper and the ball, clearly blocking the goalkeeper’s line of vision as the shot enters the goal.
Goal or offside offence?
DecisionDecisive fact - 4
Direct from a goal kick
Restart exceptionA goalkeeper takes a goal kick directly to a team-mate who was beyond the second-last opponent when the kick was taken. The attacker receives the ball without another touch.
Offside offence or play on?
DecisionDecisive fact - 5
The instinctive block
DeflectionA short, fast pass travels toward an attacker who was in an offside position. A nearby defender has little time and instinctively stretches a leg; the ball glances to that attacker.
Did the defender’s touch reset offside?
DecisionDecisive fact - 6
The failed control
Deliberate playA long ground pass travels in a predictable direction. A defender sees it early, moves into position, and deliberately tries to control it, but misplays the ball to an attacker who had been in an offside position.
Did the defender’s action reset offside?
DecisionDecisive fact - 7
Saved into the attacker’s path
Deliberate saveAn attacker shoots toward goal. A goalkeeper deliberately saves it, and the rebound reaches a team-mate who was in an offside position when the shot was taken.
Offside offence or play on when that team-mate plays the rebound?
DecisionDecisive fact - 8
Back from the crossbar
ReboundA shot by a team-mate hits the crossbar and rebounds to an attacker who was in an offside position at the moment of the shot. The attacker then plays the ball.
Offside offence or play on?
DecisionDecisive fact
Answer key and reasoning
Credit the decision only when the learner identifies both the original position and the later involvement or reset.
Play on.
A player who is level with the second-last opponent is not in an offside position. Later playing the ball is therefore legal. Law: 11.1.
Play on.
It is not an offence merely to be in an offside position. The player neither played the ball nor interfered with an opponent, while the onside team-mate made the play. Law: 11.2.
Offside offence; disallow the goal.
The positioned attacker interfered with an opponent by clearly obstructing the goalkeeper’s line of vision. Restart with an indirect free kick. Law: 11.2.
Play on.
A player cannot be penalised for receiving the ball directly from a goal kick. The same exception applies directly from a throw-in or corner kick. Law: 11.3.
No reset; offside offence when the attacker plays the ball.
The speed, short distance, and instinctive stretch indicate a deflection rather than deliberate play. The attacker gains an advantage from that deflection. Law: 11.2 and the deliberate-play guidance.
Reset; play on.
The defender saw a predictable ball, had time to coordinate, and deliberately tried to gain control. Failed execution can still be deliberate play, so the attacker is not treated as gaining an advantage from the earlier position. Law: 11.2 and the deliberate-play guidance.
Offside offence.
A deliberate save does not reset offside. Playing the rebound means the attacker gained an advantage from the original offside position. Law: 11.2.
Offside offence.
A rebound from the goal frame does not reset offside. The position is judged at the team-mate’s shot, and the attacker then gains an advantage by playing the rebound. Law: 11.2.
Discussion prompts
Push the reasoning one step further
- Why is a still image at the moment of reception often misleading?
- What evidence would make situation 5 look more like deliberate play?
- Why does a deliberate save have a different consequence from other deliberate play?
- How could an attacker near the ball affect an opponent without ever touching it?
Official references
Law basis and further reading
This material paraphrases the Laws for teaching; it does not replace the official wording.
- IFAB Law 11: OffsideOffside position, offences, no-offence restarts, sanctions, and deliberate-play guidance.
- IFAB: Latest Law changesUse this before teaching to confirm the edition currently in force for your competition.
- Sport Rules: Offside explainedA concise companion explainer for learners who need a recap.