Chris Foy has tough decision on offside

Imagine the scenario. Fulham are beating Birmingham 1-0 this afternoon, a victory that could keep them in the premier division, a victory that would be worth God knows how many millions.

Two minutes to go, Birmingham get a free kick 25 yards out. The wall is set up and Brum's Radhi Jaidi does what's he's done in the past two games and stands in an offside position just behind the wall, directly between the ball and the goalkeeper. The free kick screams into the goal.

Does Chris Foy blow for offside? Was Jaidi interfering with the goalkeeper's line of sight? If so, the goal should be disallowed. Referees are facing a tricky new tactic that the offside law was not designed to answer. Jaidi stands 12 yards from the goalkeeper, not two yards, so can he really be interfering with the 'keeper? Michael Essien had a goal disallowed for Chelsea in the Champions league semi extra time on Wednesday, but Solomon Kalou was standing a yard in front of the goalkeeper clearly blocking his view. (In fact it looked as though he deliberately moved in front of the keeper). - that was offside.

Jaidi says: "There's no rule on this. I can stay wherever I want on the pitch when there's a free kick. I can stay even in the goal, as long as I don't actually touch the goalkeeper. But if I am standing in the wall, looking at the goalkeeper, and it helps my team to go up, I will keep doing it the next game, and the game after.”

Jaidi's a little disingenuous here. He's not standing in the well, but 2-3 yards beyond it, in an offside position. But what Chris Foy has to rule on is whether he is interfering with the goalkeeper. Being so far away, there has to be a real doubt that Jaidi is concealing anything from the 'keeper, especially as a goalkeeper can hardly see the ball with a huge defensive wall in place.