Question Number: 26897

Law 5 - The Referee 10/11/2012

RE: Level 4 Adult

Younan of Sydney, New South Wales Australia asks...

Hey guys,

Just a quick question on playing an advantage.
A player I reffed recently had a argument with me about an advantage played in his favour.
The players was about 60m from goal when he was being clipped from behind, he kept his composure and passed the ball back to his team mate.
I then raised my arms in the advantage sign and he yelled where's the free kick.
I told him that the only way I call a free kick is if I deem play is stopping or opposition is taking the ball.
When he played the ball I saw it as a way of them trying to attack.

Is this judgment I made correct or incorrect?
Thanks in advance

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

If your judgment was to allow advantage simply because his team remained in possession of the ball, it would have been wiser to stop play. Advantage works best when the team that is the victim will benefit from not stopping play - - - that usually means that there is an advantageous attack. So, the real judgment is whether the relative time and space for the other teammates was such that there was the potential for a good attack if you allowed play to continue.

Moreover, some fouls have to be called whether or not the ball was lost to the opposition. Few players accept being clipped from behind. They will retaliate. Moreover, the other players may believe that you are weak and will start fouling more. Fouls in the midfield are often a gift to the referee to assert control over players that are starting to get reckless. This player gave you good information on what he did not want to accept and play through.

Even if advantage is appropriate, mechanics can make a huge difference in how the players respond. Sweeping your arms tells the spectators that you are allowing the advantage, but the player on the ground just knows that he was kicked. Shouting 'play on' or 'advantage' lets him know that you saw the foul and that something is happening.

When you circle back to the player, what you tell the player is important. Your answer may have conveyed the message that you were right and that he shouldn't expect you to protect him. IMO, the better message is that you saw the foul and you would have called it, but you allowed the advantage to give his team a chance for a good attack.

Frankly, there have been times when my message to the victim is; sorry, I shouldn't have allowed the advantage.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Younan
Advantage is an excellent tool for referees when used properly. In those situations the referee has to evaluate that it is better for the fouled against team to continue with play. That will include situations where there is a promising attack and where the player wants to continue.
There will be times when advantage is not appropriate even when the team still has possession. These will include situations deep in a team's own half or where there is little support for the player from team mate to continue in an advantageous manner. There will also be times when the foul is of a manner that the player takes exception to it and that will require that play is stopped and the opponents either spoken to or cautioned.
In a recent game a player said to me that his team did not want any more advantage as he probably felt that a direct free kick where play could be launched forward 50 yards from a free kick was more advantageous as his team was tiring and losing possession in teh last third. That has a lot to do with skill levels and the lower the skill levels the less likely teams are to avail of advantage.
As Referee Wickham say mechanics are important and perhaps the player did not see or hear your advatage signal with him then thinking that you missed an obvious foul on him fom behind.
If advantage is executed properly the fouled against team should have little or no complaint.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Younan,

Don't worry too much about the complaint - you'll find that advantage is a highly misunderstood law.

When applying advantage, it is critical that you signal it appropriately with a loud voice and arm signal, otherwise it just looks like you've missed the foul, which can not only lead directly to retaliation, but can also affect your overall match control. The voice is very important, as the players may not look for your signal or may not recognise what is meant by 2 arms out in front.

In considering advantage, we need to consider both possession and opportunity.

For instance, if a striker regains possession of the ball after being fouled, but he's facing 3 defenders and has little or no support, then while he has possession, he has little opportunity, so you wouldn't want to apply advantage in that situation.

So I can't tell from your post how much of an opportunity the attacker had - if his only support is behind him then that isn't much of an opportunity, but if he has plenty of space to run into, or unmarked teammates around him in a better position, then I'd say he has a good opportunity.

In your situation, I'd be trying to declare advantage as soon as he's broken free of the tackle and it's evident that he isn't going to be disadvantaged any more. That way, if the then decides to pass it backwards it's his fault. Otherwise, if you've called advantage after he's played it backwards, then you're calling advantage on an inferior field position. Of course, it isn't always practical to call advantage before the pass, as you don't want to risk calling advantage then have the player lose the ball anyway - especially is in Australia, we're taught that we can't go back after signalling advantage, so we signal advantage after we've decided it has materialised (as opposed to how some other countries apply it).

If he still wants to complain, a simply 'you had the ball' offers more than enough explanation.