Bizarre football rules: Question on The Chase left Bradley Walsh baffled

There are a few rules in football that are just downright confusing, and one of those rules was recently asked as a question on ITV’s hit quiz show The Chase.

Most of the strange rules in football arise from situations that are very unlikely to happen, which is why the majority of fans don’t know them.

Just a matter of weeks ago, fans on Twitter were sent into a meltdown after Spurs captain Harry Kane had a goal disallowed in the Carabao Cup semifinal against London rivals Chelsea.

The goal was judged to be offside despite Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger standing on his own goal line. But the explanation is surprisingly quite simple, while most people assume that you simply need to remain behind the last defender to stay onside, the law states that it is actually two players.

The IFAB Laws of the Game state:“A player is in an offside position if: any part of the head, body or feet is nearer to the opponents’ goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent”

The reason this is so often mistaken is that the second-last opponent is usually a sole defender because the law takes into account the goalkeeper.

So Kane’s goal was deemed offside because Chelsea’s goalkeeper Arrizabalaga had rushed to the front of his box, meaning Kane only had one player ahead of him instead of the required two.

And now another confusing rule has been highlighted thanks to ITV’s game show The Chase.

A clip of the show was posted to Twitter showing a question asked on a recent episode that left the Chaser, Shaun Wallace, and host Bradley Walsh scratching their heads.

The question that appeared on the screen was:“In football, if a direct free-kick goes straight into a team’s own goal, what is awarded to the opposing team?”

Three possible