Question Number: 1902

Law 5 - The Referee

RE: select

greg of lexington, ky asks...

My question deals with advantage....At what point does advantage end? And isn't advantage more significant than merely maintaining possession of the ball? It appears that more and more fouls are being tolerated (by signalling advantage)simply because a player is not being dispossessed by an opponent. Thanks GES

Answer provided by Referee Starr

There is not enough space in this column to reply to you properly. You have opened up the proverbial "can of worms"..Legally, advantage ends about 2-3 seconds after the advantage call is made by the referee. At that point, he may not change his decision. As to your second query, you are correct. currently, referees are allowing more contact. To you this seems that the referee is invoking the "advantage clause" when he is actually invoking the old IBD #8 of Law 5 dealing with "trifling or doubtful breaches of the laws of the game"..You are playing at a select level and as others and you play at a higher level, you will expect fouls to occur but want to keep the flow of the game going. Referees know this and unless it is a foul that unfairly gives or takes away an advantage, it is a foul that is reckless or worse, or there is a game control problem, he will allow it. Think about how you want to play the game. As a flowing sport or a tournament of free kicks. Think about it!. Keep having fun!