An offside rule for sporting games, enforced by using offside lines drawn on sporting fields The present invention

relates to an offside rule for sporting games with the purpose of increasing the fair-play, the spectacle, the average number of goals, the productivity of sports and therefore the interest of the public, sporting players, coaches, sporting specialists, media and business people. . The present invention applies to any sporting game played by human beings, by animals, by robots, by machines or by any kind of real or virtual players on a material field or on a virtual one, like a computer generated game. The offside line This offside rule hitherto needs a couple of lines, called 'offside lines', one 'offside line' for each half of a sporting pitch, to be drawn between the half-way line and each of the two goal lines. These offside lines hitherto are parallel to the goal lines and also to the half-way line. Every offside line could be drawn as a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a wavy line, a curved line, a zigzag line, or as any other form that could be considered as a line. Every offside line could be drawn using any kind of paint, lime, wood, plastic, metal, stone, or any other material, in any color. The offside lines could be drawn and also used on pitches (sporting fields) with various shapes: rectangular, circular (round), oval, square, triangular, rhomboidal, trapezoidal, trapezium shaped, polygonal (pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal etc) or any other regular or irregular shape. The rule The offside rule hitherto relates to three independent offside violations: The first offside violation During a match between sporting teams, there is an offside violation when a player situated between the half-way line and the offside line sends a ball (or a puck, or a disk, or another sporting item serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games) over the offside line in any way (kicking it, passing it, throwing it, or using feet, hands, head, or any part of the body, or using gloves, sticks, springs, rackets, helmets, shoes, or any other sporting item) to another player of his/her own team who was located precisely between the offside line hitherto and the adjacent goal line in the moment when the ball was shot. The second offside violation During a match between sporting teams, there is an offside violation when a player situated between the goal line and the offside line sends a ball (or a puck, or a disk, or another sporting item serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games) over the offside line in any way (kicking it, passing it, throwing it, or using feet, hands, head, or any part of the body, or using gloves, sticks, springs, rackets, helmets, shoes, or any other sporting item) to another player of his/her/its own team who was located precisely between the offside line hitherto and the half-way line in the moment when the ball was shot. The third offside violation During a match between sporting teams, there is an offside violation when a player sends a ball (or a puck, or a disk, or another sporting item serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games) in any way (kicking it, passing it, throwing it, or using feet, hands, head, or any part of the body, or using gloves, sticks, springs, rackets, helmets, shoes, or any other sporting item) over more than one single line at once, whatever that line is (half-way line, offside line or goal line). After a ball (or a puck, or a disk, or another sporting item serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games) is sent over a line, whatever that line is (half-way line, offside line or goal line), that ball (or that puck,

or that disk, or that another sporting item serving the same functions as a ball does in ball games) has to be played by an athlete before being sent over the next line, whatever that line is (half-way line, offside line or goal line). Thus no player located between the half-way line and an offside line could score a goal directly. Penalties The sporting team guilty of any offside violation could be penalized with various sanctions, like a free kick, a caution, a sending off of a player or more, points awarded to the opposite team, or other penalties. Applications of the new offside rule The new offside rule hitherto could be applied to teams in offense, to teams in defense or to both of them. The offside rule hitherto could be applied to all players or only to some designated players. The new offside rule hitherto could be better observed than the current offside rule of soccer (association football). The innovative offside line hitherto eases the task of referees and linesmen. Benefits This offside rule hitherto improves the speed of sports, but also reduces the level of violence in sport, also reduces the players' amount of wasted efforts, increasing the productivity of sporting activities. The offside rule hitherto prevents huge gatherings of players nearby the goal lines. Sports played using this offside line and also this offside rule hitherto are becoming more organized, more logical, faster and more enjoyable than the same sports played without this offside rule. Thus sports which use this offside rule become more suitable for children, women and senior people. Athletes who play this sport will benefit a longer sporting activity, being able to play sports longer than athletes who play the same sports without the offside rule.

A rule for sporting games The present invention relates to a rule for sporting games with the purpose of increasing the fairplay, the spectacle, the average number of goals, the productivity of sport and therefore the interest of the public, sporting players, coaches, sporting specialists, media and business people. The present invention applies to any sporting game, played by human beings, by animals, by robots, by machines or by any kind of real or virtual players on a material field or a virtual one, like a computer generated game. In sports like soccer (association football), American football, rugby, basketball, ice hockey, field lacrosse, and others, all players are authorized to touch any area of the pitch (sporting field). In sports like field tennis, volleyball, and other, players are authorized to touch only specific areas of the field, divided by a half-way line and a net, but on each specific area can be found players of a single team. Unlike these situations hitherto, this invention improves sports, mainly soccer, putting together some players of both teams on every specific area. Only some players of teams A and B are allowed to touch a specific area of the field, while other designated players of teams A and B are allowed to touch the another specific area of the field.

The field and its half-way line This rule hitherto needs a half-way line to be drawn on the field. This half-way line hitherto could be drawn as a straight line, a dashed line, a dotted line, a wavy line, a curved line, a zigzag line, or as any other form that could be considered as a line. Any half-way line could be drawn using any kind of paint, lime, wood, plastic, metal, stone, or any other material, in any color. Any half-way line could be drawn on grass, plastic, mud, tarmac, fabric, carpets, wood, paper, glass, ice, or any other support. The half-way line could be drawn and also used on pitches (sporting fields) with various shapes: rectangular, circular (round), oval, square, triangular, rhomboidal, trapezoidal, trapezium shaped, polygonal (pentagonal, hexagonal, octagonal etc) or any other regular or irregular shape. The half-way line divides the pitch (sporting field) into a couple of specific areas, each of them bordered by a goal line, the half-way line and the touchlines. The authorized players to touch each specific area Each team has a designated number of athletes authorized to play upon each specific area. Thus every player of each team shall be authorized to touch a specific area and only that area, not the other one. Every team designates some athletes to play on the first half of the field, and other athletes to play on the second half of the field. The rule Only a definite number of players of team A, X (a number) players of team A, together with another definite number of players of team B, Y(a number) players of team A, are authorized to touch the first half of field and only that specific area of the field. Simultaneously, only a definite number of players of team A, Y players of team A, together with another definite number of players of team B, X players of team B, are authorized to touch only the second half of the field and only that specific area of the field. Each team has the same number of players authorized to touch opposite halves of the field. Team A has X players on the first half and Y players on the second half of the field, while team B has Y players on the first half and X players on the second half of the field, simultaneously. A sporting regulatory body (a sporting authority) establishes the values of numbers X and Y. Thus numbers X and Y could be different or the same, depending on the will of that sporting regulatory body (that sporting authority). In normal conditions each team has the same number of athletes X+Y playing on a field during a sporting match. Nevertheless, during the play, a referee could send off one or more athletes as penalties for various offences. Alternatively, some athletes could leave the field, as the result of an injury or just depending on their own will. Some coaches could also withdraw some players. As a conclusion, despite the fact each team is initially allowed to play with a number of X+Y athletes, actually the number of its athletes playing on a sporting field could vary depending on some of those previous situations. An example For instance, only five players of team A and only six players of team B are authorized to touch the first half of the field and only that specific area of the field. Other only six players of team A, together with other only five players of team B are authorized to touch the second half of the field and only that specific area of the field. Therefore, each team is allowed to play using maximum 11 players on the field. But if a player of team A violates the rules and therefore that player is sent off, as a penalty for his misconduct, team A will play with only 10 athletes. If a player of team B leaves the field, without being substituted, the team B will play with 10 athletes too. Penalties

When a specific area is touched by a player who is not authorized to touch that specific area, the referee shall penalize the offending player and his/her team. The sporting team guilty of such an offside violation could be penalized with various sanctions, like a free kick, a caution, a sending off of a player or more, points awarded to the opposite team, or other penalties. Benefits This sporting rule hitherto improves the speed of sports, but also reduces the level of violence in sports, also reduces the players' amount of wasted efforts, increasing the productivity of sporting activities. This sporting rule hitherto prevents huge gatherings of players nearby the goal lines. Sports played by this new rule become more organized, more logical, faster and more enjoyable than the same sports played without this new sporting rule hitherto. Thus sports which use this new rule hitherto become more suitable for children, women and senior people. Athletes who play a sport where this rule hitherto is applied will benefit of a longer sporting activity, being able to play sports longer than athletes who play the same sports without this new rule.