Lazio v Cremonese: Pairetto’s offside error from goal kick | OneFootball

Sensational incident in Lazio-Cremonese: the referee whistles for a non-existent offside, then corrects himself and apologizes

Pairetto gets the offside wrong: from a goalkeeper’s goal kick it’s not an infraction, the rules are clear

Obvious mistake by referee Luca Pairetto during Lazio-Cremonese, a match marked by an incident that left players, staff, and fans perplexed. The referee stopped play for an alleged offside position, incorrectly applying Law 11 of the rules.

The play started from a goal kick taken by the Lazio goalkeeper Ivan Provedel. The ball reached the area and Castellanos headed it, but at that very moment Pairetto blew his whistle, signaling an offside that, by rule, cannot exist in this game situation.

What the rules say about offside

After the whistle, the referee realized his mistake, apologized to the players on the field, and decided to restart play with a dropped ball. A solution that tries to remedy a glaring oversight, but does not erase the technical error committed.

The IFAB rules are unequivocal. Law 11, point 3, clearly states that “there is no offside offense if a player receives the ball directly from: a goal kick, a throw-in, or a corner kick.” In this specific case, the play originated from a goal kick, making any offside assessment impossible.

A technical error that sparks debate

This is an error in the application of the rules, not of interpretation, and for this reason it is bound to spark discussion. In a context where VAR is now an integral part of the game, incidents like this reignite the debate about referee training and the attention required even in the most basic situations of the rules.

The match then continued without further immediate consequences, but the incident remains one of the most controversial moments of the match. A mistake that, although corrected at the time with the referee’s apology, once again highlights how crucial knowledge and precise application of the rules are at the highest levels of professional football.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.