Answers to Soccer Laws of the Game and Practical Soccer Refereeing Questions
Law 6 – Asst. Referee
Question:
Is there a standard design for the Assistant referee flags?
I see many different designs and would be interested in having a unique one.
USSF answer (February 11, 2009):
No, there is no standard design for these flags, other than that they are square or rectangular.…
Question:
I was wondering why the linesman in USSF are instructed to run to the corner spot to give the signal for a goal kick when in the EPL and most European games I watch on TV they go to the six to signal the goal kick. When a shot taken at the 18 or beyond and is well clear of the goal line my assessor still wanted me to run to the corner spot before signaling. I just think that holds up play and not all centers are going to wait for you to get their before they make there signal.
USSF answer (January 29, 2009):
The assistant referee’s standard position throughout the world is in line with the second-to-last defender or the ball, whichever is closer to the goal line. There is no need to run all the way to the goal line if there is no player within playing distance of the ball, but there is clearly a need for the AR — there have been no linesmen since 1997, either in the UK or elsewhere in the world — to run with the ball as far as necessary to be certain where it will go.
While the AR should follow the ball to the goal line in most cases, he or she should not remain dead on the flag to make the signal, but should come back a yard or so to make the correct signal. This allows the flag to be visible to the referee, who must make the final decision. The referee who fails to wait a reasonable time for the AR’s signal before announcing his/her own decision is demonstrating a lack of trust in the AR and the concept of teamwork.…
Question:
I have been asked 2 questions…and I’d like to know the “real” answers to them…
The first question is…
At what 3 instances does the AR stand at attention with no flag signal? Explain each…
1. When a goal is scored with someone in the offside position (potentially shielding the keeper)
2. ?
3. ?
The 2nd question I have is…
An AR witnesses a foul not seen by the referee. What 5 steps are required by the AR to communicate this offense?
1. Determine whether or not the referee possibly saw it and is playing the advantage,
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
I’m not sure If I’m on the right track with both of these, and would appreciate your help. I’m hoping that I know these but am just having a case of mental block!
USSF answer (January 21, 2009):
You will find your answers in the USSF publication “Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials” 2008-09 edition.
Standing at attention:
p. 27: If an apparent goal is to be disallowed because of a foul by an attacking player.
p. 27: If an apparent goal is to be disallowed because a player other than the goalscorer was in an offside position and interfered with play or with an opponent.
p. 28: If a foul observed by the referee occurs OUTSIDE the penalty area.
p. 29 Foul not seen by the referee but indicated by the Lead Assistant Referee:
Lead Assistant Referee
• Determines that the infringement was not or could not be seen by the referee and that, per the pregame conference, the referee would likely have stopped play for the infringement if it had been seen
• Signals with the flag raised vertically in the hand appropriate for the restart direction and, after making eye contact with the referee, gives the flag a slight wave
• If the referee stops play, signals with the flag held 45 degrees upward in the direction of the restart if the foul was committed by any player outside of the penalty area or by an attacker inside the penalty area
• If misconduct is observed associated with the foul, makes eye contact with the referee and advises either a yellow card by placing the free hand over the badge on the left jersey pocket or a red card by placing the free hand on a back pocket on the shorts
• Indicates the location of the restart if necessary
• If the referee does not see the signal, continues to hold the flag straight upward in accordance with the pregame conference
• Per pre-game conference, assists in enforcing the required minimum distance if closer to the restart location
• Takes position to assist with offside on the free kick and monitors other player actions in accordance with the pre-game conferenceTrail Assistant Referee
• Mirrors the lead assistant referee’s flag signal if this is not seen by the referee and, upon making eye contact with the referee, directs the referee’s attention to the lead assistant referee
p. 30 Foul not seen by the referee but indicated by the Trail Assistant Referee:
…Trail Assistant Referee
• Determines that the infringement was not or could not be seen by the referee and that, per the pregame conference, the referee would likely have stopped play for the infringement if it had been seen
• Signals with the flag raised vertically in the hand appropriate for the restart direction and, after making eye contact with the referee, gives the flag a slight wave
• If the referee stops play, signals with the flag held 45 degrees upward in the direction of the restart if the foul was committed by any player outside of the penalty area or by an attacker inside the penalty area
• If the referee does not see the signal, continues to hold the flag straight upward in accordance with the pregame conference
• Takes position to assist with offside on the free kick and monitors other player actions in accordance with the pre-game conference Lead Assistant Referee
• Mirrors the trail assistant referee’s flag signal if this is not seen by the referee and, upon making eye contact with the referee, directs the referee’s attention to the lead assistant referee
Question:
Early on in my referee training in the mid 1980’s, I was instructed as an AR positioning for a corner kick from the oppositte side of the field, that I was to take 1 step inside of the corner flag, so that I would have a clear view and wouldn’t have a problem with my flag banging with the corner flag. I have had assessors advise me to stay off the field and behind the flag. What is the preferred positioning?
USSF answer (January 19, 2009):
Let us consult the oracle, the USSF publication “Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees, and Fourth Officials” (2008-09), which tells us that for a corner kick from the referee’s side of the field:
…Assistant Referee
• Provides confirming flag signal (45 degrees downward toward near corner) after referee indicates a corner kick when ball crosses referee’s side of goal
• If referee makes obvious eye contact to ask for assistance on correct restart, signals for corner kick and maintains the signal as referee indicates decision
• If the ball passes out of play and immediately returns to the field, signals with a vertical flag until acknowledged by the referee, then gives the corner kick flag signal
• Steps upfield from goal line to avoid pointing the flag off the field
• Moves to the near corner and takes position on the goal line behind the flag
• Following the kick, recovers to the offside position as quickly as possible
Question:
In a tournament this weekend I was told by the assessor that as AR I should be running all the way to the corner flag before signalling the goal kick. Stopping at the six and pointing toward the goal area was not enough. He called it just being lazy. On shots taken outside the eighteen, from midfield, even if 2LD was at midfield, he still wanted us to run to the corner flag before signalling. I understood this to be proper proceedure for a corner kick but had never heard of it for goal kicks.
The games I centered were confusing. The AR delaying signal until he got to the corner flag made me question whether he was calling goal kick or corner kick. Is this a new proceedure or just more creative refereeing?
All I could find in Guide to Procedures was to point toward goal area and nothing about running to corner flag. I want to use the correct procedure. Please advise.
USSF answer (December 2, 2008):
Lazy is as lazy does. The assessor’s advice is well intentioned but not entirely accurate or necessary. Of course the assistant referee should run all questionable balls the entire distance to the goal line. “Questionable balls” are those that are contested by players from both teams and could result in either a goal kick or a corner kick. However, when there is no question as to what the restart will be, and for whom, there is no need to continue all the way to the goal line. The top of the goal area is fine in most cases.…
Question:
I was the center for an adult mens game this week. The attacking team was on a fast break and the thru ball was deliberately handled by the defender to stop the attack. The defender was one of the last defenders (they were almost flat…in a straight line). The Attacking player who was to receive the ball would have been on his way to goal with no defender in sight. The deliberate ball handling took place about 35 yards from goal.
I blew the whistle and gave the defending player a straight red. The AR then called me over to tell me that the attacking player who was to receive the ball was in an offside position. At the half, my other AR said I should have considered the distance from goal that the handling occurred and thought I should have given a yellow card.
Does the fact that the attacking player who was to receive the ball was in an offside position change the card or scenario?
Does the fact that the handling took place 35 yards from goal change the card or scenario?
USSF answer (November 21, 2008):
Yes, as we have answered several times in the past, the fact that the player who might have scored was in an offside position does indeed change the card and the scenario. Although it’s a bit late to do anything about it now except remember it for the next time it occurs.
If the referee accepts the assistant referee’s flag for the offside — which he or she seems not to have shown in this case — that advice is then binding on the referee, who must decide for offside and misconduct. The correct decision is to caution the defender for unsporting behavior and restart with an indirect free kick for the defender’s team, taken from the place where the attacker was when his teammate passed the ball.
However, just to head off questions we know will come from others who read this particular Q&A, let us note several things.
1. if the offside is not accepted (and it is certainly difficult to accept an offense that wasn’t signaled by the AR in the first place) or if the attacker hadn’t been in an offside position, then the issue you raise boils down to this — but for the handling, would a goal have been scored?
2. And someone is bound to bring in the 4 Ds, which actually figure into that decision only marginally.
3. The referee can’t say that DGF occurred simply because, but for the handling, the attacker might have passed the ball to his teammate and his teammate in turn might have been able to take a shot on goal and the shot on goal might have gone into the net. In this case, it is either a red for DGF because the ball would have gone into the net from the player’s shot on goal or it would be a caution for a tactical foul (illegally handling to prevent the ball from going to a teammate of the player).…
Question:
This happened while I was watching a U14B Class II select game prior to the one I was supposed to ref.
The CR was a very well respected guy that has a lot of experience in our league. One of the AR’s (on the coaches side) kept bragging about how good he was where he moved from (California, I think) and kept making really bad comments about the performance of the CR.
In my opinion, the CR was doing a pretty good job in a very physical game.
At one point in the game, the CR called a PK in the area that was on the other side from the AR I am talking about. Well, the AR went ballistic and ran all the way to the other side of the field and started arguing with ther CR on how that was not a PK, etc, etc…
From that point on, it turned really nasty as the AR kept making bad comments of the CR performance, very loud so everyone could hear. The CR acted very calmed and didn’t really paid attention to the AR comments, but certainly did not help with the game.
My question is: Can a CR dismiss an AR who is having this type of behavior and ask one of the clubs to assign a linesman?
I am hoping the CR wrote a very long report about the AR, and hopefully I won’t see that AR again.
USSF answer (November 17, 2008):
Yes, a referee may indeed dismiss an assistant referee who is behaving in that manner. Here is the word, straight from Law 6:
In the event of undue interference or improper conduct, the referee will relieve an assistant referee of his duties and make a report to the appropriate authorities.
And the referee should report the AR to the state referee authorities for breach of the Referee Code of Ethics.…
Question:
Dear Sir(s), I was an AR in a recent game that was being assessed by a state-level assessor. While in proper position aligned with the second to last defender and monitoring for any offside infraction, the offense chipped the ball over the top of the defensive line that was playing in a flat-4 formation approximately 25 yards from goal. At the time the ball was played by the offensive player, his teammate was in an offside position and started to move towards the location where the chipped ball dropped in an effort to play the ball. There was also a second offensive player who was not in an offside position at the moment the ball was played who ran through in an effort to make a play on the ball. Normally such a situation would be a “wait and see” situation to determine offside. As the location where the ball dropped indicated (top of the penalty area) and taking into account the relative speed and distance between the defensive goalkeeper and the offensive player in the offside position, there appeared to be an imminent possibility of a collision between the goalkeeper who was charging out and the offensive player who was in the offside position. As instructed by the center referee in the pre-game, I raised my flag as a precautionary measure due to the pending collision with the goalkeeper before active involvement could be fully determined. The goalkeeper ultimately gained possession of the ball with his hands a split second before the player in the offside position was able to arrive at the ball and the player in the offside position did not become actively involved. As the AR, I stood at attention with the flag raised until the goalkeeper had obtained clear possession of the ball. The center referee did not see the offside flag and never acknowledged the situation. After the keeper obtained clear possession, I dropped the flag and moved on with the game assuming proper positioning for the ongoing play.
This seems like it was the right course of action based on the pre-game instructions and as described in the Guide to Procedures:
“If the referee misses the flag, [AR] stays at attention with the flag raised until the defense gains clear possession or until a goal kick or throw-in is awarded to the defense.” The problem I have is that in post-game discussion with the assessor, he indicated this procedure to be incorrect. This was a fairly complicated situation with many things happening at the same time, but he indicated that there can not be an “advantage” call on an offside infraction (which based on my understanding of the LOTG is a correct statement) and that as the AR in this situation, I should have stood at attention with the flag raised until acknowledged in one form or another (calling the offside infraction or waiving the flag down) by the center referee. Note, the assessor did not dispute the judgment of the initial flag raising to indicate the offside infraction.
Obviously this problem could have been mitigated if the center referee had looked over and made eye contact. Whereas I agree with the assessor’s general statement regarding advantage and offside, I do not believe this was a case of an AR inappropriately making an “advantage” call which is not within the scope of his authority, but rather simply following the instructions laid out by USSF for a missed flag.
Please advise on the appropriate mechanics for this scenario.
The second question that arises from this situation is in the eyes of USSF, does the pending goalkeeper collision decision trump the “wait and see” philosophy to determine active involvement when both determinations are required for the same play? The pending collision instruction seems to be a fairly common instruction given in many pre-games, but I can not actually find any reference to this in an official publication.
Thank you for your anticipated clarifications.
USSF answer (November 6, 2008):
If you have followed both the instructions of the referee — you don’t tell us what they were, but the fact that you followed them counts — and the guidance given in the Guide to Procedures, you have done all that any assistant referee should do in this situation. We are uncomfortable about the feedback given to you by the state assessor.…
Question:
I n response to a question of October 23, with regards to a missed signal for a goal and subsequent confusion, you wrote that “there is no way that dropping the flag and moving up field should be interpreted as an offside decision.”
I’d like some clarification of this opinion with a view to your answer of August 18, when you wrote that in order to properly implement the “wait and see” principle without disadvantaging the defending team on their restart or pulling the AR out of position, the AR should follow play until the offside player is actively involved, then “when the referee sees the raised flag and blows the whistle, the AR makes eye contact with the referee and points the flag to the far, middle or near side, whichever is correct. The AR then moves back down the touch line to a point in line with the correct spot for the restart.”
However, in the conclusion of your Aug 18 ruling, you note “there is no specific advice on the matter because it is left to the discretion of the referee to cover the issue in the pregame. The issue, simply put, is that the AR must continue to maintain proper position during the period of time between when an offside position is noted and when the offside violation is clear enough to be flagged. The AR’s position must be maintained in this scenario because of the possibility that an offside violation may not occur. The issue outcome hinges on identifying the correct location of the restart.”
The obvious difference between the signal for a missed goal vs offside is the AR giving the far/middle/near signal prior to running upfield. The latter procedure is covered in neither the Guide to Procedures, ATR, LOTG, or Q&A (please correct me if I am wrong).
Considering this, it is easy to envision miscommunication resulting from this procedure if the center has exercised his “discretion” in neglecting to cover the issue in pregame, done all too frequently, through levels of play such as PDL where waiting for a touch or impending collision to signal offside is imperative. This site is the only place where I have seen this specific procedure laid out; many referees would contend that the proper procedure is for the AR to hold position until the advantage is clear, then signal or recover.
While not the most frequently used AR routine, the “wait and see” offside is common, and miscommunication could easily have negative effects on man management. If this procedure is recognized as “proper,” should it be included in Guide to Procedures and adopted as a recognized signal? At the very least, it seems that it should be reviewed by instructors sufficiently that confusion does not result.
USSF answer (November 5, 2008):
Although we applaud your faithful attention to the various Q&As published here, the issue you are raising below is based on a false premise — namely, that these two scenarios are connected in any way. The potential confusion you point to could arise only if the officials involved acted in the way which we clearly stated was incorrect in each case.
In the October 23 scenario, the issue was the referee misunderstanding the AR’s correct procedure for indicating that a goal was scored despite the fact that the ball appeared to have stayed on the field. We said then, and confirm again, that the referee simply was wrong in believing that the AR had indicated an offside violation and, in that context, said that the AR dropping the flag and running quickly up the touch line could not under any circumstances be considered proper mechanics for indicating an offside violation. All aspects of this situation are clearly covered in the Guide to Procedures and Advice to Referees.
In the August 18 scenario, we were asked about the proper mechanics for the AR when two attackers are making a play for the ball, one coming from an onside position and the other coming from an offside position. This is fairly clearly covered in the Guide to Procedures and the Advice to Referees, but we also acknowledged that the subsidiary issue of properly locating the restart (if an offside infringement occurs) does not have a definitive answer in these publications because it is left to the discretion of the referee, who should include the matter in the pregame.
We said then, and confirm again, that the AR should be maintaining proper positioning for offside even though, if the offense does occur, this might place the AR some distance away from the restart location. If the referee wants assistance from the AR in locating the restart, the AR should move up the field but only after giving the complete signal for the offside offense. In other words, although it might seem that the AR is merely dropping the flag and moving upfield, this is not what has signaled the offside offense. The offense was signaled in the correct way when the offense occurred (all in accordance with the Guide to Procedures and Advice to Referees) and then, only if this is requested by the referee, the AR could drop the flag and move up field in order to assist in locating the restart. In the alternative, the referee may decide that he or she needs no help advising players as to the restart location and would prefer that the AR stay back where the offense was signaled since, in all likelihood, this puts the AR closer to where the second last defender is at the time of the restart.…
Question:
In the three man system, what is the lineman’s responsibility as far as fouls are concerned.
USSF answer (November 4, 2008):
1. Let the referee have the first shot at any foul or misconduct.
2. Flag nothing that the referee can clearly see (or see clearly, take your pick).
3. Flag only what needs to be called in accordance with the referee’s instructions in the pregame conference.
4. Flag only what the referee would stop play for if he or she had seen it.
5. Flag nothing that will get the referee in trouble.
6. Neither say nor give a hand signal for “advantage.”…