Question Number: 24721

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 3/22/2011

RE: Select Under 19

Erik of Arlington, TX USA asks...

I was bumped, slowing me down and knocking me off balance, a few yards outside the penalty area. I was able to maintain my balance, continuing on for several strides until I realized we had a much better chance of scoring from a free kick outside the box where I felt I was fouled, than me continuing on with the advantage.

Surrounded by defenders, I decided to stop trying to maintain my balance from the bump just a few seconds earlier, fell to the ground, and reached out to grab the ball in front of me in order to force the referee to call the original foul.

Hearing the whistle, I looked up, and unfortunately the referee was pointing the other way and heading in my direction. I admit, I have a bad temper, and slammed the ball against the ground.

This just brought out another whistle, two yellow cards, one for 'simulation', the other for dissent, and then I had to watch the remainder of the match from the parking lot.

How are the mechanics of the advantage call supposed to work? Should the referee signal advantage at the moment the foul occurs, or at the point the advantage is realized? I feel I can be a better judge on whether I really do have an advantage, or would be better off with the free kick than the referee.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

So you cheated, then threw a temper tantrum, now you're trying to blame the referee.

And people say that personal responsibility is a thing of the past!

The mechanics of the advantage call are completely irrelevant to your situation as no foul occurred.

In short, if you stuff up the advantage of your own accord, then the advantage has been lost. I would consider taking a dive after a foul to be 'stuffing it up', so I'd certainly penalise the dive and not the foul.

Why players think they're being useful in grabbing the ball as they go down is beyond me, but it always makes me laugh - 90% of the time no foul has occurred, except for the deliberate handling.

Just because you think you were fouled doesn't make it so.

Glad to see the referee took the appropriate action for 2 blatant counts of misconduct - we need more referees with the courage to make the right decision.

Unfortunately, we also need more players who play with integrity , intelligence, and honesty with respect for the laws of the game, the officials, the opponents, the game itself as well as taking personal responsibility for their own actions.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Erik
This has nothing to do with playing advantage. Applying advantage permits the referee to allow play to continue when the team against which the foul has been committed will actually benefit from the referee not stopping play.
In this case the 'bump' in the opinion of the referee was not a foul and your fall to the ground was an attempt to deceive the referee by pretending to have been fouled (simulation) which is a cautionable offence. You then showed dissent against the referee's decision which is also a cautionable offence. As you received two cautions in the game that results in a dismissal.
As regards the mechanics for signalling advantage the referee will make a clear signal by raising both arms out in front of his body and he will shout loudly 'advantage'. When that does not happen there is no foul and advantage cannot be applied to anything which is not a foul. Advantage is a decision solely by the referee about whether to stop play for the foul. Accordingly, giving the advantage is 'calling the foul' and thus it must be as obvious to the players as signaling to stop play.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You felt you were fouled. That doesn't mean you were. The referee decides when to play advantage, not the players. Had you been fouled and maintained your footing toward the goal and the referee saw the foul, he would have given the advantage signal and yelled 'advantage' or 'play on'. Had you then really lost your balance, the advantage would not have been realized and the referee would have brought the ball back to the point of the foul and awarded the free kick.

Instead, you decide to take a dive and you deliberately handled the ball before the referee stopped play. You didn't force the referee to do anything other than punish your misconduct, which he did, twice, He should have restarted with a direct free kick for the opponents due to your handling.

And you forgot one thing: your little stunt also gets you the pleasure of watching the next game from the bench.