In this post I refer of course, to the recent sacking of Andy Gray from Sky Sports. It was for comments made about women and the offside rule and comments made in December 2010 towards Charlotte Jackson.
What happened most recently was that while thinking their microphones were off, Andy Gray and colleague Richard Keys, who have been the face of top-flight football on Sky since 1992 (i.e. my first birthday) agreed that Sian Massey – along with other female assisstant referees – didn’t know the offside rule [law]. Admittedly this wasn’t the smartest thing to do as A) I’ll bet many men don’t know the offside rule (I’ll put it at the bottom of this post as written in the 2010/2011 edition of Laws of the Game) and B) Funnily enough, she actually got the decision right, making them look something of mugs. Keys has since called Massey and apologised which is said to have been accepted, which is probably why he’s still in a job.
Andy Burton has also been suspended for saying that Sian Massey was “a bit of a looker” during a pitchside discussion with Andy Gray. That’s it. That’s what he’s been suspended for. I’m sure she felt really insulted by that(!)
The exact transcript of the conversation:
Burton: “Apparently, a female lino today, bit of a looker according to Steve the cameraman.”
Gray: “A female linesman?”
Burton: “He says she’s alright, now I don’t know if I should trust his judgement on that.”
Gray: “Nah, I wouldn’t, I definitely wouldn’t.”
The point being made here is that they don’t trust Steve’s judgement, these comments were not aimed at Massey at all, it’s probably a safe bet they’d not even seen her at this point. How someone can be legally suspended for that is beyond me.
Then a tape emerged of Andy Gray making a “sexist” comment to fellow presenter Charlotte Jackson, as taken from the Daily Mail (I know, I know): “As he put his microphone into his trousers he said: ‘Charlotte, can you tuck that down here for me?’ before he burst out laughing.”
This same report also states that “A source close to her [Massey] added that she was ‘sanguine about the matter and wants to put it all behind her’.” So yeah, she was clearly deeply offended. If you really want a laugh, read the conspiracy theory on that report as well.
In conclusion, while Andy Gray hasn’t exactly been angelic in this whole fiasco, it seems as if no-one is allowed to say anything anymore, I think anyone with common sense knows the difference between tongue-in-cheek comments and actual sexism, and BSkyB clearly don’t.
Now for the offside law:
Offside position
It is not an offence to be in an offside position.
A player is in an offside position if:
- he is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.
A player is not in an offside position if:
- he is in his own half of the field of play or
- he is level with the second-last opponent or
- he is level with the last two opponents
Offence
A player in an offside position is only penalised if, at the moment the ball touches or is 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
No offence
There is no offside if a player receives the ball directly from:
- a goal kick
- a throw-in
- a corner kick
Infringements and sanctions
In the event of an offside offence, the referee awards an indirect free kick to the opposing team to be taken from the place where the infringement occured (see Law 13 – Postition of free kick).
And there you have the offside law, but now for the notes section relating to said law that takes up 8 pages (the law itself uses 1, but thankfully 6 of these 8 pages are diagrams):
Definitions
In the context of Law 11 – Offside, the following definitions apply:
- “nearer to his opponents’ goal line” means that any part of a player’s head, body or feet is nearer to his opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent. The arms are not included in this definition
- “interfering with play” means playing or touching the ball passed or touched by a team-mate
- “interfering with an opponent” means preventing an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly obstructing the opponent’s line of vision or movements or making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent
- “gaining an advantage by being in that position” means playing a ball that rebounds to him off a goalpost or the crossbar having been in an offside position or playing a ball that rebounds to him off an opponent having been in an offside position
Infringements
When an offside offence occurs, the referee awards an indirect free kick to be taken from the position of the offending player when the ball was last played to him by one of his team-mates.
Any defending player leaving the field of play for any reason without the referee’s permission shall be considered to be on his own goal line or touch line for the purposes of offside until the next stoppage in play. If the player leaves the field of play deliberately, he must be cautioned when the ball is next out of play.
It is not an offence in itself for a player who is in an offside position to step off the field of play to show the referee that he is not involved in active play. However if the referee considers that he has left the field of play for tactical reasons and has gained an unfair advantage by re-entering the field of play, the player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour. The player needs to ask for the referee’s permission to re-enter the field of play.
If an attacking player remains stationary between the goalposts and inside the goal net as the ball enters the goal, a goal must be awarded. However, if the attacking player distracts an opponent, the goal must be disallowed, the player cautioned for unsporting behaviour and play restarted with a dropped ball from the position of the ball when play was stopped, unless play was stopped inside the goal area, in which case the referee drops the ball on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the ball was located when play was stopped.
Whoever said the offside law was hard? 😛
GavHTFC 