Question Number: 29934

Law 5 - The Referee 11/20/2015

RE: Competetive Under 15

mary of damascus, Maryland USA asks...

Explain the essential elements of 'applying the advantage' I am confused about enforcing this law. Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mary
Interestingly advantage is not about enforcing a law yet allowing play to continue rather than stopping play to award a free kick. Law 5 provides for the referee to allow play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time. In essence what that means is that when in the opinion of the referee it is more advantageous to not call a foul then that is what should be done. An obvious example would be where a player say tries to stop the ball entering the goal with her hand yet fails with the ball being subsequently kicked over the line. Clearly a deliberate handling offence has been committed yet a goal has been scored. Why would the referee not allow play to continue through the use of advantage and award the goal rather than stopping play to award a free kick that the scoring team does not want.
Now there will be less obvious opportunities than this and therefore the referee has to decide in each instance whether to stop play or allow it to continue whether there is a benefit to the fouled against team to continue play.
Here is a USSF video on the subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7JxMSHCbZA
Here is an example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7utn8XBx390
White 15 clearly tries to bring down Blue 8 with a foul yet fails. Blue 8 wants to continue and the referee does not call the foul by playing advantage with Blue 8 scoring. Now had the referee called the foul he would have denied the Blues a goal and allowed Whites to regroup with a defensive wall etc. As this happened so quickly the referee did not have the opportunity to move his arms to the outstretched upswing position showing that he was playing advantage. Im not sure if he shouted out advantage and he would be expected to do that as well as the arm signal.
Another feature of this tool is that the referee if she feels that advantage is a good decision yet very quickly within 3/4 seconds of the advantage being allowed to the fouled against team the referee realises that it does not materialise as anticipated then she can go back to then original foul. So in the Blue v White example lets say that Blue continued yet then stumbled before the second challenge the referee could go back to the original foul. I would also say that at younger age groups and with less skilled players calling the foul is always more advantageous. At the Pro level many fouls are not called with advantage played because the team does not want the game to stop as they have possession and only want to continue to pass the ball. Not so at lower levels who prefer to have a free kick so that the ball can be delivered into the penalty area from the kick.
The final point is that when advantage is played the referee can still take disciplinary action against the *offending* player when the ball next goes dead. That means that even with play continuing the fouling player has not get away with the infraction if it merited a caution for being reckless etc

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mary,
like any job, experience and understanding come from the time one puts in.
The general theory behind advantage is why stop play when an opponent cheats, given that is why they cheated! To get play stopped, to kill momentum, to allow his team time to recover and defend , to inflict harm on the opponent, to prevent a goal !

A player who fouls an opponent does so to take away the ...advantage... that opponent might have in continuing an attack or setting up and or scoring a goal or at least an opportunity to do so. A referee who grasps the essence of the why also reflects if it has or has not succeeded and that the concept applies to the aggrieved TEAM not just the player who was fouled? We are looking to see if we can RESTORE that initial advantage to the team and is it better than just a free kick? Plus if there is misconduct attached we have up until the next stoppage to deal with it if cards are still to be shown.

To evaluate the choices the referee must understand the technical skill set and age appropriateness of those able to take advantage of the advantage of allowing play to continue. U-12 advantage is a rare occurrence compared to what one might see at a professional match. The ability to take advantage of an actual advantage must be understood!

The referee by not blowing the whistle can permit play to continue by the application of advantage where he/she has determined there might be a better opportunity to continue the attack or score a goal if there was no whistle stoppage.

Now when there is foul or misconduct against a player he will often retaliate unless he is protected by the referee. Thus the reason we call out ADVANTAGE and use an arm sweep signal to announce that, YES, we saw the foul, (so do not retaliate) but I am hoping you guys find a way through to goal that will be better than stopping play for the free kick out here in the field, usually mid third area, occasionally in the defensive third and often to the outside of the PA in the attacking third.

A referee when he witnesses a foul as a whistle stoppage be it an INDFK or DFK penal foul there can be no advantage, as the whistle will halt play! Depending on the location and severity of the foul an immediate whistle stop and free kick is often the BETTER choice ,UNLESS say the ball was rolling into the goal. A too quick whistle will nullify a good goal. This concept is why we often DELAY a whistle in around the penalty area as opposed to SIGNAL advantage, to see if a goal results, simply because if there is NO goal we are generally awarding a PK and are carding someone for something. It is referred to as a quiet advantage or a delayed whistle awaiting a result.

The beauty about advantage is it is an arbitrary measure of wait and see but if we DO NOT SEE advantage occurring within 1 to 5 seconds we can still stop play and go back to the point of the original foul and continue with the restart and show any cards if needed.

I tend to shout ADVANTAGE and do the arm sweep at the possibility of advantage then drop the arm sweep and call out PLAY ON! only after I have concluded that an actual advantage was realized. Thus, I have announced, I saw the foul, thought about it, but decided that ongoing play was more promising then stopping for free kick. IF there is a card coming I often tap my shirt pocket and point at the culprit and state for the benefit of my ARS as well as players, hey # so so player next stoppage I will remember!

I should point out the advantage is to be looked upon as that opportunity lost is better served by allowing play to continue!? It is WHY inside the PA given the promise of a PK only a goal satisfies the reason not to stop, where outside the PA a continued promising attack or a shot could be sufficient . Merely keeping possession is NOT a reason for advantage . Mind you advantage requires good foul recognition and situational awareness! WE do not use it for trifling or doubtful and that as a foul it does count towards PI (persistent Infringement) even if you do not stop play _

Advantage applies to all the LOTG but it can not be used to correct an unfair restart if the ball is not in play. For example you could permit a quick free kick with opposition players inside the PA but you can not allow anyone to play the ball until it clears the PA boundary lines. If a throw in is performed incorrectly and the opposition were to recover the ball and have a great scoring chance you CAN NOT permit this to occur as the LOTG mandate it must be re-thrown correctly by them.

You can apply advantage on something's that are not permitted like if a ball is directly kicked by a team mate or a direct throw in back to their keeper who illegally uses his hands but bobbles it and the ball crosses the goal line into the goal, under the crossbar and between the posts we award a goal not an INDFK.

Not all advantages are directly related to just a player fouling an opponent but is a crime against the entire team or even the ball. If an illegal player or substitute enters the FOP you do not have to stop play immediately if it is of advantage for the other team to keep playing.

As pointed out by my colleagues a DOGSO by use of the hands is the denial of an obvious scoring opportunity or goal and punishable by a red card and send off yet if we wait, apply advantage and a goal results, then the foul itself is unsuccessful, although we can caution for the USB action, the attempt to cheat, has failed, we award the goal. No red card required no PK. No reduction in number of players.

Advantage is a concept enshrined in LAW 5 but utilized throughout the LOTG with the final benefit of law 18 common sense choosing the correct path to follow! Cheers

Answer provided by Referee James Sowa

Mary,

A few really good answers here. As my colleagues point out, knowing when to apply advantage can only improve through experience. With the more recent updates to the advantage interpretation, the scope has been expanded to include essentially everything under the advantage umbrella. To distill advantage to a simple point:

Is the player or team that was aggrieved going to benefit by you NOT blowing the whistle.

As Referee Dawson points out, there are instances when a team will intentionally commit a foul in order to regroup. In this case, it may be more advantageous to allow play to continue if the attacker is willing.

Here is my usual thought process on whether to apply advantage:

1) Is this action a foul at this level of play?
2) Have I been calling this a foul today?
3) Where are we on the field of play? (A hot zone or somewhere else)
4) What is the atmosphere of the game? (Heated, Calm, etc.)
5) Where are the other defenders?
6) Where are the other attackers?
7) Would a player of this games skill level be able to use this opportunity?

Number one and number two should be fairly straight-forward. Is this action trifling at this level of play and have I actually been calling it today. Assuming that both of these are yes, then we have a foul.

Number 3 relates to opportunity. If the foul occurs in the defensive third, than there is very little opportunity for advantage (though there are times....). Also, if the foul occurs right in front of one of the goal mouths, in a corner, or right in front of the benches I am likely whistling as these are 'hot zones' which can quickly raise the temperature of the match.

Which brings us to number 4, regardless of the potential of advantage, do I need to call this foul to control the game. Sometimes, even if there is an advantage, it may be beneficial to slow play and calm the hot heads. Naturally, don't stop it if the attacker is through to goal :).

Numbers 5 and 6 require great field awareness. You need to know where the ball is going once the attacker breaks free of the challenge. If the attacker plays through it but there is still three defenders between him and goal, is there really an advantage? Now say there are three defenders but an unmarked forward streaking through the line, clear advantage here.

Finally, number 7 builds of number 5 and 6. Based on the skill level of these players, can they make the most out of this opportunity. That streaking forward does nothing if the fouled player can't pass the ball to the player.

Hopefully the above considerations help a little bit. Another little cheat you can use is to keep your whistle away from your mouth. This requires you to take an extra second to bring the whistle up and gives you time to see how play unfolds.

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

See Question: 29937