The Professional Game Match Official Limited (PGMOL) group and the Premier League Matchday Centre have confirmed that Harry Kane was offside before winning his penalty against Arsenal on Saturday.
Anyone who’s seen the replays of the game on Saturday could easily tell Kane was in an offside position when the ball came in from the free-kick that led to his penalty. However, there was some debate in the media over whether the foul came before the offside.
A number of journalists (people who report on matches and aren’t qualified to officiate them) argued that Kane was fouled before he made an attempt to play the ball, and posted cropped screenshots of the rules to prove that meant he wasn’t offside.
Have sought expert opinion on the Kane penalty. Consensus is that while his offside position occurs first, the offside offence comes after Mustafi foul. In eyes of officials (although not MOTD) Kane not yet playing or attempting to play ball when fouled. Correct decision pic.twitter.com/yajyKjmNIJ
— Sam Wallace (@SamWallaceTel) March 2, 2019
What they all chose to ignore was the fact that if Kane challenges an opponent for the ball, as he did, he’s offside whether he attempts to play it or not.
Thankfully, the PGMOL (the group that officiates all Premier League matches) and the Premier League Matchday Centre both confirmed that Kane should have been given offside.
I have been informed that the premier League Match day centre has confirmed that offside should have been given https://t.co/phXwNAZzCo
— Mark Halsey (@RefereeHalsey) March 3, 2019
https://twitter.com/alanshearer/status/1102159634952015872
It’s up to you whether to believe the people who enforce the rules on a weekly basis or some people on Twitter who had to look those rules up to form their interpretation.