A player kicks a free kick into the opponents’ penalty area. While the ball is in the air, a defender holds an attacker and prevents them from jumping for the ball. After that, the ball goes to another attacker who scores a goal, having been in an offside position when the ball was last played by a team-mate. What is the correct decision?

Question

Accepted Answer

The referee disallows the goal (because of the offside offence) and awards a penalty kick (as the holding offence occurred before the offside offence). If the foul denied an obvious-goal scoring opportunity (DOGSO), the defender is sent off (red card, no attempt to play the ball or challenge for the ball). If it was not a DOGSO situation, the defender is cautioned (yellow card).