Question Number: 23155

Law 5 - The Referee 4/21/2010

RE: Competive Under 13

Chris Richard of Cedar Hills, Utah USA asks...

The keeper charges a midair ball about 5 yards outside of the PA, but instead of kicking it away he swats it down to the ground with his hand. He immediately realizes his mistake and gives up on the play.
One offensive player and one defender battle for possession for maybe 2 seconds before the offensive player wins and kicks it into the goal.
The ref says advantage was called on the play and that's why the hand ball was never whistled.
Should the hand ball be called regardless or is advantage correct even though it was a clear advantage at the time?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Advantage exists to allow a team to NOT be disadvantaged by a whistle for an offense when they have a real chance to either score or set up a scoring opportunity immediately.

In the situation you outlined, it sounds like the referee was close by and watching carefully. His choice to award advantage which resulted in a goal looks like exactly what advantage was meant to do. Too many referees tend to whistle first and think later, instead of taking a moment to consider the possible outcomes with and without the whistle.

A referee always has the power to decide if an offense must be called, if advantage can be applied (and withdrawn, if necessary) or if the offense is simply doubtful or trifling. Those decisions rest on the referee's knowledge and experience and the level of play in the game at hand.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Chris
One of the powers given to the referee is to allow advantage. The referee can allow play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage.
So here the goalkeeper has committed an offence, the referee then weighs up the situation and sees that there is a possibility of allowing play to continue with advantage which results in a goal. That is the whole basis behind advantage and it worked out great in this situation.
Clearly this was a good advantage and the difficulty arises if say the attacker failed to win possession or score the goal. The attack will then feel that the direct free kick for deliberate handling was a 'better' decision.
So to answer your question the deliberate handling need not be called and it is a matter of experience on behalf of the referee to allow play to continue when it is not entirely a clear cut advantage. He/she however runs the risk that if it does not work out of being berated for not calling the offence and allowing play to continue with a 'poor' advantage that has not benefited the team that has been offended against. He/she will probably then hear "Where's the advantage here Ref"

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There seems to be myths out there that advantage doesn't apply to certain situations, and deliberate handling is one of those myths. Advantage may be called for any foul (per the USSF, only for Law 12 violations).

There are certain times when it is not advisable to use advantage, for example most situations involving misconduct, especially severe foul play or violent conduct. But that's a 'never say never' thing. Advantage can be called whenever it would benefit the fouled team to not stop play. The greater the benefit, the more likely advantage should be called, no matter the circumstances. A ball in the net is one of the best advantages to be had.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

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