Sorry if this sounds a stupid question...
I hear a lot being said about the rules saying that you are offside if a part of your body you can score with is ahead of the second to last defender but I've checked the rules and, unless I'm missing something, there is no specific mention of this.
It says instead that a player's hand or arm does not count as part of their body when judging if the player is ahead of the defender.
My interpretation of the inclusion of that phrase is not because it is illegal to score with either the hand or arm but because they are the parts of the body that naturally extend furthest forward when a player is active.
So a player may be pointing to show where he wants the ball as it is being played and that he shouldn't be penalised for doing so if that is what has caused him to be ahead of the defender.
I hear a lot being said about the rules saying that you are offside if a part of your body you can score with is ahead of the second to last defender but I've checked the rules and, unless I'm missing something, there is no specific mention of this.
It says instead that a player's hand or arm does not count as part of their body when judging if the player is ahead of the defender.
My interpretation of the inclusion of that phrase is not because it is illegal to score with either the hand or arm but because they are the parts of the body that naturally extend furthest forward when a player is active.
So a player may be pointing to show where he wants the ball as it is being played and that he shouldn't be penalised for doing so if that is what has caused him to be ahead of the defender.