Preventive Officiating

by Randy Vogt

Teams are much more likely to dissent from referee decisions when the ref is far away than the same decision when the ref is 5-10 yards from the ball. After all, presence lends conviction.

Please also note that the attacker’s arms are not included in considering offside position since an attacking player cannot score with the arms. So if the arm is the only part of white’s body which is closer to the goal line than the second-to-last defender on gray, white is in an onside position.