Question Number: 22111

Law 5 - The Referee 9/29/2009

RE: AYSO

Ana of Rowland Heights, California Los Angeles asks...

During a recent game, ref blows whistle after shot to goal, which was missed. Called it a direct kick, which a goal is then scored. At half time, I asked ref what the direct kick was for, to which he replied: 'Defender pulled forward's shirt, but I gave him advantage, but because he missed goal, I had to call foul' to which I said 'So, had player made goal, you would not have called a foul?' Ref replied 'Correct' Just curious to what correct call should be. I have taken referee classes before. I think he should have called foul and give a yellow to player who pulled shirt. Am I right?

Thanks for your time.

Ana

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

You are partly correct in that even if a goal resulted the caution COULD still be applied for the USB of the misconduct itself not the foul! The caution for shirt pulling is one that many consider a mandatory instruction but as in any decision it ultimately rests with the referee of the match.
If, in the opinion of the referee, the advantage is realized the foul is waved, HOWEVER the MISCONDUCT that accompanied the foul is NOT waved and can be applied at the next stoppage of play before any restart.

FIFA QUOTE The Referee Law 5
'? allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has beencommitted will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the originaloffence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time

? takes disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable
and sending-off offences. He is not obliged to take this action immediately but must do so when the ball next goes out of play

Cautions for unsporting behaviour LAW12
There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour, e.g. if a player:
? holds an opponent for the tactical purpose of pulling the opponent away from the ball or preventing the opponent from getting to the ball'
End Quote


Allowing play to continue AFTER a foul has occurred is recognizing that the opposition in trying to cheat may have failed and it behooves us to allow time to see if the offended team can overcome the adversity to continue the attack or score a goal.

Referees have considerable DISCRETION and RESPONSIBILITY as to what constitutes the advantage! Some argue that if any kind of an attack or shot occurs the advantage is realized and the referee cannot go back to the foul as it is two bites of the apple so to speak.
Retaining ball possession or getting off a shot is NOT in of itself sufficient.
A referee must gauge the cause and effect of a foul close to goal in how it changes the opportunity to shoot, score, pass or dribble effectively! A delay creates time for the opposition to get closer! Off balance is not the same as controlled with head up and no pressure. A ball directed towards the direction of goal is not the same as a ball directed at an opening in goal! A pass to an offside teammate is no advantage!

In situations near the goal especially inside the penalty area where we consider the application of advantage it is more of a DELAYED whistle to await an outcome as opposed to a foul mid field where we shout "ADVANTAGE" Sweep the arms and after 2 or 3 seconds, then drop the arms cry out PLAY ON! I should mention the way I was taught to apply advantage is not the same in all countries where the signal is given only AFTER the advantage has occurred. My belief advantage is a way of preventing retailiation as those affected HEAR you and know you did not miss the foul but are looking at it very closely!

If, in the opinion of the referee, the advantage is not there, the whistle sounds and we bring the ball back to award the foul as the penal foul of holding as DFK outside the area and a PK if inside the area and show the correct color of card if the misconduct is present USB yellow or DOGSO red! Remember too that holding is a continuous SERIES of fouls and if it starts outside but finishes inside the penalty area we upgrade to PK status.

Quote FIFA Holding an opponent LAW 12
'Holding an opponent includes the act of preventing him from moving past or around using the hands, the arms or the body.
Referees are reminded to make an early intervention and to deal firmly with holding offences especially inside the penalty area at corner kicks and free kicks.
To deal with these situations:
? the referee must warn any player holding an opponent before the ball is in play
? caution the player if the holding continues before the ball is in play
? award a direct free kick or penalty kick and caution the player if it happens once the ball is in play

If a defender starts holding an attacker outside the penalty area and continues holding him inside the penalty area, the referee must award a penalty kick.'
End Quote

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ana
From the description that you give the referee was entitled to do what he did. Under laws of the game the referee is entitled to play advantage and allows play to continue when the team, against which an offence has been committed, benefits from such an advantage. He also is entitled to penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time. The decision to penalise the original offence must be taken within a few seconds, usually no more than say 3 seconds.
That's what the law say and the only real issue is the interpretation of whether an advantage did in fact ensue. Some referees will view a shot on goal as an advantage. However in many goal chances the advantage is not clear cut with perhaps the player who fouled is still involved in challenging on the goal chance or the foul has allowed other defenders to close on the ball making the shot more difficult than it would have been. Clearly a goal would be an undoubted advantage and the ref would never bring that back to the original foul.
So there is no 'correct' answer here in this scenario. The referee was entitled under the law to do what he did. Had he decided to allow play to continue and restart with a goal kick he was also entitled to do that if he felt an advantage was fully realised. That is a matter of opinion and it is reserved for the referee on the day given the situation that is presented.
Finally the laws allows for a caution where a player pulls an opponent away from the ball for tactical purposes. Where advantage is played the referee can caution at the next stoppage in play.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It sounds like the referee applied advantage, but didn't explain it well. The decision on whether to call back the advantage and go with the foul does not rest solely on whether the ball missed the net or not. Rather, the referee decided that the effect of the foul - the shirt pull - caused the player to miss the goal. If the player was able to score despite the foul, the advantage would have clearly been realized.