Question Number: 24975

Law 5 - The Referee 5/18/2011

RE: Competitive Under 13

Tony Fong of Norton, MA USA asks...

Hi. My daughter has just started ref'ing. She had an incident where she called a defending player for a hand ball in the penalty area. The attacking team had immediately played the ball for a goal. Our question is whether she should have let the play go on as an advantage or should she have immediately whistled the play dead and awarded the penalty kick (as she did)? One could argue that the attacking team might be unfairly penalized if the penalty kick is missed. Thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Yes, if a goal seems imminent, advantage could be used in the penalty area. There's not much better advantage for a team than the ball in the back of the net.

However new refs often have not yet developed the poise to think about advantage in this situation. Heck, a few of us older refs forget to look for it from time to time! A penal foul in the area is an exciting event, and the impulse to blow the whistle fast, loud and long is hard to resist.

Another aspect of this is whether the deliberate handling of the ball denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity. If so, by stopping play your daughter should also have sent off the handler. If advantage is played and a goal is scored despite the handling, the player is not sent off, but might be cautioned.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Tony
Always a difficult decision for officials to make. My advice is to develop the skill of delaying the decision slightly so that if the ball is kicked into the goal the referee can award the goal. If it is not likely to happen then award the penalty kick. An added issue is the disciplinary consideration. If a goal has been denied then a dismissal is required. If a goal is scored that is no longer required.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee's friend is a slow whistle. By waiting just a second longer, the referee can see if the ball goes into the back of the net. If not, whistle for the penalty kick. If so, award the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Tony. First remind your daughter that deliberately handling the ball must be deliberate or avoidable and that it is the most wrongly called foul in youth soccer. She should be certain it was deliberate. Second, it is the wise referee upon seeing ANY infraction by the defenders inside their penalty area to wait 2-3 seconds before blowing the whistle. Never give the advantage signal but by waiting you can avoid what happened to your daughter. A goal is the ultimate advantage in soccer.

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Tony, the key part of your question was that the attacking team IMMEDIATELY scored. I take it this was almost the same time as it would take for the referee to lift her hand and blow the whistle. She would have done well to delay blowing the whistle for that fraction of a second and see if a goal is scored.
It is rare that advantage is given in these situations because you can see how it can be backfire but in this case, because it happened so fast, advantage should have been invoked.