off-the-ball en · ADJ
Meanings
-
(not-comparable, of an incident or foul) Occurring away from active play.
An off the ball incident led to N'Zogbia confronting Wilshere before leaning his head into the Englishman and giving referee Lee Probert no choice but to show the red card.
2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC: