Question Number: 33477

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/24/2019

RE: Rec Under 17

D Reichert of Georgetown, Ontario Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 24602

If there is a defensive foul in the box during a breakaway and the attacking team is clearly going to score and was not impeded by the foul, retaining full control of the ball and in clear position to score, should the ref stop the play 1-2 seconds before the goal is scored to have a Penalty Kick instead, or should the ref let the attacking team finish the play since they were in control and did nothing wrong?

Our sons team constructed a wonderful play and the goal was imminent and yet the whistle blew less than 2 seconds before the striker kicked the ball which of course went into the net. No defender was in sight, and the Goalkeeper was not in position to stop the goal. Unfortunately the play was considered dead because the whistle blew, and our team was not awarded the goal only to fail to score on the penalty kick instead.

Should the ref have waited to blow the whistle in this Scenario? Is there a rule for refs re. Timing of penalty/foul whistles when the non-offending team has control and is in a good position to score?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi D R,
you are correct, once the whistle goes play is over!
in cases where a foul occurs and the referee is AWARE that it serves the offended teams interest to play advantage the LOTG allow us to wait and see what occurs. We call this playing the advantage!

We can do one of two things

(ONE) we can simply delay the whistle to await an outcome: it could be an immediate goal or scoring opportunity where the only whistle will be for a kick off . This is usually in around the PA usually for a DFK thus PK foul as we EXPECT a goal will be the only thing better than the PK
or
(TWO) we can see there is opportunity to advance the attack. We can take some time to decided if the free kick will be better or worse that what opportunity might occur. In these cases we generally SIGNAL advantage with a loud yelling of ADVANTAGE! and a one or two arm sweep with palms up, then, once we are CERTAIN we are NOT going back to the location of free kick, we yell 'PLAY ON!' and drop the arm signal, generally this occurs in 2 or 3 seconds but it can take up to 5 under rare conditions.

Based on your description of the events it appears the CR was a bit over eager with an early whistle instead of comprehending the advantage was unfolding into a certain goal, he should have delayed the whistle to await the outcome of play.

Was there a card included? Was it a SFP or VC or a DOGSO situation? Sometimes the nerves are on edge in the PA & our focus is only with the PK foul itself.. Waiting or delaying to see if advantage is plausible, sometimes you will be screamed at, as if you missed the foul. When you actually SIGNAL advantage, it makes the case, "YUP I saw it, but I am waiting to see if I should stop play."

In the cases of the PA (penalty area) & PK (penalty kick) fouls and advantage, it is my feeling that UNLESS a goal is actually scored, we are going back to the PK. We can wait a bit to see if the goal occurs and if it does, it may mitigate the defender's misconduct, an example would be a DOGSO red card send off downgraded to USB , yellow card caution at kick off. If the foul was a reasonable challenge there might not even be a card but if it is USB or excessive or violent then the misconduct remains in play no matter the decision to go back or continue play and the card would be shown at the next stoppage. .

A Pk is a huge scoring opportunity, just because the attackers get off a decent shot that misses or is saved, that Pk is STILL likely a better opportunity and despite the miss ed opportunity we still revert back to the PK! Its not really two bites of the apple here, its more like a crab apple opportunity missed is not as good as the Granny smith or Macintosh PK. ONLY if the attacking team were to do something so incredibly silly as to create a situation where by their OWN sheer folly they blow a certainty goal, we might see the PK in a different light and place the blame for the miss on the attackers, not a defender, who fouled inside their own PA

Now Outside & away from the PA it is completely different, the free kick will be a DFK only for a foul, not a PK. If we choose to apply advantage where a subsequent opportunity comes along in that 2 to 3 seconds is better than a long range free kick shot then we are recognizing that the free kick is NO longer valid, as the advantage has been realized. The BIG difference is no goal is a certainty here. The team with the advantage can mess it up the goal scoring or attacking opportunity by later, shooting wide, make a poor pass, dribble it too far ahead, once advantage is realized, play simply continues as if the foul had not occurred. Except if there was misconduct which would be dealt with at the next stoppage!

This clip has MANY purposes but for this case watch the ADVANTAGE played at 1:07 then consider the PK awarded later and how he states what advantage he looked for but did not see, thus awarded the PK at about 1:57 . This guy is my mentor and this clip one of the greatest examples of integrity you will ever see.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-lNODXuA6k


Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
The best decision here was to allow advantage which would have seen the goal awarded.
Now hindsight is 20/20 vision and many referees have been in situations of blowing the whistle too early in these situations.
The Laws tells us that the referee (quote) ** allows play to continue when an offence occurs and the non-offending team will benefit from the advantage, and penalises the offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time or within a few seconds** . The advice used to say 2/3 seconds now it changed to *a few*.
I myself a number years ago had one of these where a defender handled the ball on the goalline, it came back out at which moment I blew for a penalty kick only to find that the ball was shot back into the net for a goal. I then dismissed the defender for denying a goal and guess what, the penalty kick was missed.
Even with years of experience it can be difficult to *wait and see* in penalty situations. It has not happened to me since yet events can transpire to make it difficult not to call fouls early.
Here is a video I like to show in these situations
https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/video/referees/videoid=746585.html?autoplay=true#referees
Clearly the best decision was advantage, goal awarded and caution for the goalkeeper.
Sometimes it does not work out that way. This was a highly experienced referee at the highest level and his regret is plain to be seen. It took Barcelona until the 81st minute to equalize and to go on to win,
Having said all that had the PK been scored in your game the question would not arise.