This interpretation on offside was agreed by the International Football Association Board, the body responsible for the Laws of the Game, and communicated by FIFA to its Member Associations in October last year.

The parties today agreed that the following advice be issued to referees:-

If, in the opinion of the referee, the actions of a player in an offside position deceive or distract an opponent, that player will be given offside.

The FA’s Head of Refereeing, John Baker, said: "It was generally felt that a decision needed to be taken on how to apply this interpretation to the type of situations we have seen during the past week, particularly in relation to attacking free kicks.

"The Laws of the Game have not been changed, nor has the interpretation. We have simply sought to clarify the manner in which it should applied by referees."

Note

Law 11 states that "A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball is touched or played by one of his team, he is, in the opinion of the referee, involved in active play by:

- Interfering with play

or

- Interfering with an opponent

or

- Gaining an advantage by being in that position

Interfering with an opponent, the issue discussed at today’s meeting, is interpreted as:

- Preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball. For example by clearly obstructing the goalkeeper’s line of vision

or

- Making a gesture or movement while standing in the path of the ball to deceive or distract an opponent.