The problem with that law is that there's nothing to stop a referee from blowing the player offside and it's not a foul by Fern. He just has to pick one of the following conditions.
- a player moving from, or standing in, an offside position is in the way of an opponent and interferes with the movement of the opponent towards the ball this is an offside offence if it impacts on the ability of the opponent to play or challenge for the ball; if the player moves into the way of an opponent and impedes the opponent’s progress (e.g. blocks the opponent) the offence should be penalised under Law 12.
- a player in an offside position is moving towards the ball with the intention of playing the ball and is fouled before playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the foul is penalised as it has occurred before the offside offence
- an offence is committed against a player in an offside position who is already playing or attempting to play the ball, or challenging an opponent for the ball, the offside offence is penalised as it has occurred before the foul challenge
Was Sane moving from an offside position but in Fernandinho's way?
In an offside position but already attempting to play the ball before he was fouled?
In an offside position but fouled before attempting to play the ball?
The referee could have taken his pick in my opinion and been right whatever conclusion he came to.
Shit law. The wording in the second (foul awarded) scenario actually makes it necessary for Sane to have the intention of playing the ball if he is to be fouled. Ergo, the referee decided Sane intended to play the ball. Otherwise no foul is possible according to the words. So the referee decided his intention was to play the ball but he wasn't attempting to play the ball. Lewis Carroll must have written this law.