Question Number: 26439

Law 5 - The Referee 6/12/2012

RE: competitive Adult

Kley Parkhurst of Herndon, VA USA asks...

Regarding the June 2012 memo that broadens the use of advantage beyond just Law 12 fouls and miscounduct, intentional handling is not mentioned. If a player intentionally handles a ball but the result is an advantage to the opponent, does the advantage concept apply?

Thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Advantage always applied to handling, because that is a violation of Law 12. The change in USSF's interpretation is that advantage can now be applied to other laws.

Incidentally, the violation is 'deliberately handles the ball'. It is only a nuance of difference, but it is not 'intentionally handles the ball'. We don't have to believe that the player intended to handle the ball - that he wanted to - but only have to see that his deliberate actions led to the ball being handled.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Advantage is not an element WHETHER deliberate handling of the ball has occurred. Thus, an unintentional contact between arm and ball will not be a foul even if the ball falls favorable (to the advantage) of a player.

Advantage can be used for any foul, including deliberate handling of the ball. The classic example is the defender who handles the ball in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent a goal. Allow the advantage and award the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Kley
Advantage could always be played on deliberate handling as it is a Law 12 infringement. The most obvious one was, as Referee Wickham mentions, the unsuccessful attempt to prevent a goal by deliberate handling where advantage can be played and the goal awarded.
What USSF has done it its recent memo is to bring the US in line with the rest of the world where advantage can be played on all infringements of the game not just Law 12. So what is needed now is that an offense is committed by a player while the ball is in play. Advantage cannot be played when the ball is not in play such as at a throw in, goal kick not leaving the penalty area etc.
What it does mean that advantage can now be played say on Law 11 offside offences where it is advantageous to allow play to continue or in double touch scenarios where it is in the opponents' advantage to allow play to continue

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Handles the ball deliberately (the correct terminology under the LOTG for an intentionally handled ball) has been a DFK (Law 12) offense as long as I can remember, so even under the old USSF interpretation, advantage always applied. A good example of that is when a defender handles the ball to prevent a goal, but the ball rolls on in anyway. Only a referee who was not paying attention would have whistled the foul without waiting to see what came next. Now we applied advantage, gave a goal and a yellow card (not a red, since the goal was not denied).

Now we are free to apply advantage as noted in Law 5 to any offense which, if called, would disadvantage the offended team again. What this basically does is allow us to apply advantage to the IDFK offenses in the Laws which are not also in Law 12.

Does that help?

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

See Question: 26470