Question Number: 30082

Law 5 - The Referee 2/6/2016

RE: Adult

Ref of Australia , australia asks...

Hi

When can you use a drop ball to restart play other then injury our outside interference? Back in the day it was used for most misconducts? if player leaves field play to commit a offense or one enters the FOP or say VC occurs behind the refs back and he does not see who starts it? Its now mostly IDFK either where ball is or player committed the offense but if its a sub its where the ball is ?

Also please explain the new amendments to offside rule. It to me seems the same just add if player challenges for the ball but I always viewed this as interfering? Do you have real video examples?

as far as Im aware you dont have to caution a player for kicking the ball away. I feel its better talking to for the first time. Its needless cheap early card. Some assessors think otherwise?

Do you have any links to education materiel on positioning.

What do you think is the difference form Australian referees to England or spanish referees. To me England referee are allowed to take a more personal approach how they feel not running in and more calm and referee with a lanyard and have cards in which ever pocket they make write the card then issue it. But aussie refs seem to run charging in for bad offense, they just issue the card straight away, they use just the whistle no lanyard tend to keep the pockets in either side of shorts pants and it seems more robotic not allowing for ones own personality and approach which england refs have? Your thoughts. I know different scenarios need different approach and its what works for you but its just seems more robotic and not allowed to how england refs are.

thanks

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Thanks for the questions. You have certainly crammed a hefty amount into your post.
Anyway I will try to cover them in no particular order.
On the web there is a wealth of information available on all the topics. It just requires a little patience and decent searching.
On the dropped ball IFAB has tried to bring uniformity to the restarts involving misconduct by players. It is now spelled out in the advice and instructions at the rear of the Law book. If a player leaves the FOP to commit VC he and his team is punished and the restart is an IDFK from where the ball was when play was stopped. Same for the substitute coming on to commit an offence. So we follow what is required in the laws and there will be further changes shortly. It is expected that say holding off the FOP will become an IDFK rather than the current dropped ball. We await the changes.
As to the difference in referees much of that is down to culture, experience, training etc. Refs in the UK are expected to caution in a certain way which goes back to taking names and advising the player of the caution. Many associations with the use of cards has seen the need to do this diminished with just the number noted and in fact many players would think it strange to have to come forward to be cautioned and spoken to. I also think that referees follow what is expected of them from their peers / observers. So there is a strong element of following the norms of appearance, manner, mechanics etc. In our national sport of Gaelic football referees have the whistle around their neck on a lanyard and many run with the whistle in the mouth. Reason is that the whistle is blown for everything including all restarts, every ball out of play etc. It used to be common as well to carry the cards in a black wallet as the showing of the wallet to a player signified a minor warning. Some of these referees officiate in soccer and they carry across some of the mannerisms and that tends to single them out as Gaelic football referees. Not sure if any Australian Rules referees officiate in soccer? What it points to is that refs adhere to norms sets by group and no one wants to be an outlier. However I would expect that referees certainly bring their personality to the game with differing approaches. At the highest level refs have got there because they adhere to the norms set for that level. I know many good refs who did not get to FIFA standard because they perhaps used Law 18 too frequently. That can result in a mark down. It is like any role in life. If you wish to progress you need to adhere to what is required.
On Law 11 here is UEFAs advice to referees and a selection of videos
http://www.scottishfa.co.uk/resources/documents/RefereeEducation/Amendments/Law%2011%20-%20Offside.pdf
https://vimeo.com/offsideexplained/videos
If you read some of the questions in our Law 11 section most if not all of the changes are explained.
In respect of delaying the restart that is a matter for the referee to decide on. If it is expected that a referee should caution then the referee has to make a choice. Does he follow the advice or not and what are the consequences. In the last WC referees were given clear instructions on positioning and cautioning. Only FIFA can advise what those clear instruction were and if all the referees adhered strictly to them. That would be discussed in post match briefings with the referee.
Which leads me to the final point on positioning. The old adage that the best position is the one that sees everything that needs to be seen, is not in the way of players and that allows for a quick change once play transitions is the optimum one. Much has been written about positioning and I suppose the uniform one is outlined in the advice and guidelines in the Laws of the Game book pages 76 to 107. Again this is something that can be studied. There are books, resources out there. One is the Art of Refereeing by Bob Evans and Edward Bellion. Bob Evans has written extensively about Angle of View positioning as a helpful tool to referees.
http://www.sfsfl.com/Uploads/RefereeDocs/GettingTheAngleOfView.pps

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Hi there,
It is difficult to answer multi faceted questions. As a volunteer site it take time to and effort to answer an individual email in a personalized fashion. It would be preferable if you could to redirect your inquiries in a more single minded format.

The LOTG are currently undergoing a massive rewrite and certain changes are forth coming that could render anything we say obsolete.
We have a decent explanation on offside on the site but FIFA uses diagrams and video so check out their current format while being aware certain changes are in the works.

My colleague Ref McHugh and I had just chatted about match management and the use of common sense because how we as recreational officials might choose to deal with certain situations pertaining to the LOTG in a stricter format. The rub was if you have the FIFA badge you FOLLOW FIFA directives, you apply too much flexibility you will not be reappointed to additional matches. You FAIL to show the appropriate card, it is a deduction no matter the reason you might use to justify.

Different ethnicity does have cultural idiosyncrasies when it comes to opinions of how certain challenges and style of play are to be considered. The thing is FIFA as an organization has to recover from their abysmal corruption of financial mismanagement to reinstate their mandate which was THE LOTG apply equally and uniformly across the world.
Cheers