<P> Offside is one of the laws of association football , codified in Law 11 of the Laws of the Game . The law states that a player is in an offside position if any of their body parts except the hands and arms is in the opponents ' half of the pitch and closer to the opponents ' goal line than both the ball and the second - last opponent ( the last opponent is usually but not necessarily the goalkeeper ) . </P>
what part of the body counts as offside
any of their body parts except the hands and arms