Question:
I’m an AR in a U17 match. Defending team is pushed up in an offside trap. Offensive team plays a long ball behind the defense. Two offensive players — one in offside position when the ball is played, the other not — chase the ball. The “onside” player is a step or two ahead of the “offside” player, and will probably get there first.

1) Is the player in an offside position “actively involved in the play” if he is chasing a ball a teammate will reach legally before he does?

2) As the AR, where do I go? Do I follow the ball, or do I hold my spot just in case the “offside” attacker becomes “actively involved” so the restart can be placed properly?

3) When do I raise my flag? Do I wait the three to five seconds it will take to determine whether the offside player plays the ball, or does it go up immediately?

USSF answer (November 3, 2008):
1) No.
2) Remember the spot and follow the ball.
3) Raise your flag ONLY if is clear that the player who was in the offside position will beat his teammate to the ball. If there is any doubt as to which will get to the ball first, you must keep the flag down.…

Question:
I was an AR in a three man system game last week. Several players try to score-clear in the goal area. During the play, an attacking player kicks ball into the goal (2 feet over the goal line, but did not touch the net) and was kicked back to the field by a defense player. I was on the goal line and clear see what happened, but no whistle. I try to make eye contact with referee but he was not face to me. I put the flag straight up and hold. As the players shout “flag”, the referee whistled. I lowed down my flag and immediately run up on the touch line. As I run, the referee puts up his hand up and indicates the offside. As I sew his hand, I use my other hand point to the center. He then changed his hand and point to the center and goal was award. My question is how can we avoid this

USSF answer (October 23, 2008):
Such problems can be easily avoided through good communication between the referee and the assistant referees. The best way to bring this about is to cover such things in the pregame conference among the officials, where all communication should be discussed. The correct procedures are outlined in the USSF publication “Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials.”

What you did was correct. What the referee did was wrong: (a) The referee must look first to the AR and (b) there is no way that dropping the flag and moving up field should be interpreted as an offside decision.…

Question:
Just when I thought I had this figured out.

In the Referee Week in Review Week 22 (http://www.ussoccer.com/articles/viewArticle.jsp_9502720.html), an example is shown where a player in an offside position changes direction to begin moving toward a passed ball and then takes four or five steps toward the ball before finally “breaking away” from it. He is easily within playing distance when he finally breaks away (Video Clip 6).

My confusion comes from the accompanying analysis. First we are to consider whether the player in an offside position interfered with play:

“Interfered with play: the player in the offside position does NOT interfere with play as he NEVER touches or plays the ball. An offside player may make a run/movement toward a passed/touched ball but until he touches/plays the ball, he cannot be declared offside unless the referee/AR determines that there is a potential collision or injury situation that may result from allowing play to continue too long.”

Later the analysis states:

“This decision is complicated by the movement of the offside player toward the ball, the time it takes for the original attacker to regain possession of the ball, and the fact that the defenders stop their runs and raise their hands begging for offside. ARs are not permitted to consider these actions in their decision as they are not factors in the three elements of “involvement in active play.”

The first part of the analysis is adamant (note the CAPS) in their interpretation that the player does not play the ball and reinforces that opinion by later stating that AR’s are not permitted to consider “the movement of the offside player toward the ball.”. This seems to contradict ATR 11.5 (unless it has changed in the new version).

There seems to be very little doubt that the player was making “an active play for the ball” for at least two or three seconds (four or five steps). And so although exercising patience in this scenario might have been fine, I certainly don’t see how the AR could have been second guessed in his interpretation.

The “wait and see” principal is fine in situations with this outcome, but when the ball is already in the net before the AR raises his flag (which it would have been if the first player had successfully taken the shot), the “temperature” of the game would have been dramatically increased.

I happen to believe the AR was justified and the analysis flawed, but I would like your opinion.

USSF answer (October 21, 2008):
No, there has been no change in Advice 11.5 for 2008. There is a small difference between the guidance given in the Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials and how the specific situation in the video was explained in the Week in Review.

The guidance given in the WIR pertained, as noted in the previous paragraph, to a particular situation, not to all cases involving interfering with play. The only point in Advice 11.5 missing in the WIR analysis was one other possible element of interfering with play that did not occur in this event and was therefore not included: A player may be called offside for interfering with play if that player has run from an offside position and will clearly arrive at the ball before any teammate can arrive from an onside position.…

Question:
Today’s game: Region 3 Premiere League U-18 Boys between 1st and 2nd place teams. I’m working with an AR I’ve never met before. During the pregame, we discuss offside and waiting to ensure the player in the offside position becomes involved in play.

Early in second half of a 2-1 game, LRFC complains that AR1 delays too long in signaling the offside when KFC player is clearly going after long through ball from near midfield. They’re specific complaint is that AR1 is running with the ball, thereby signaling in their minds that he believes the KFC attacker to be onside. This wasn’t the first delayed call, but it was the one that became the tipping point.

Later in half, another long through ball, AR1 again runs after ball with no indication of offside/onside. KFC attacker gains possession in corner and sends cross that is knocked in by teammate to clinch the game 3-1. LRFC was upset as they believed the attacker was offside and that AR1 was only delaying his signal.

So my request is for suggestions on how to handle this scenario to allow time to ensure offside player is involved while not creating a false routine to which the defense believes the AR intends to call offside but is only delaying.

USSF answer (October 15, 2008):
If you feel it absolutely necessary to calm down the complainers, gently explain to them that the U. S. Soccer Federation and the people who write the Laws, the International F. A. Board, have instructed all assistant referees to delay the flag until they are certain that there is active involvement — a principle used in referee training and called “WAIT and SEE.” The matter has been taken out of the control of the referee and the AR, and this procedure must be followed.

However, there is indeed something wrong with waiting too long.  Particularly in a kids’ game, the AR should stop and signal for the offside when it is clear that an attacker from an offside position is pursuing the ball with no teammate coming from onside in competition for control of the ball and with one or more defenders being forced to alter their positions by the attacker’s actions. This is the corollary to “WAIT and SEE” — “Once you’ve SEEN, don’t WAIT.”…

Question:
Attacker A3 makes a high arcing pass forward towards teammate A10, who is even with the second to the last defender. After the ball is kicked, A10 rushes forward into the penalty area unmarked, ahead of all other defenders save the goalkeeper.

The ball falls several feet short of A10. The second to the last defender, another defender and attacker A7 are now all camped under the ball. The ball deflects ever so slightly off one of the three players to A10, who shoots and puts the ball in the back of the net.

What is the restart in these two scenarios?

1) The ball was deflected off the head of one of the two defenders?

2) The ball was deflected off the head of A7?

You are the assistant referee in this case. It is virtually impossible to see who was responsible for the deflection as the play is on the far side of the field and the three players camped under the ball are more or less one behind each other in your line of sight. Do you raise your flag? Or keep it down … and shoot a quizzical look at the center referee?

USSF answer (October 15, 2008):
Easy answer here: If you are the assistant referee on the far side of the field, you are likely too far away to see clearly what has happened. The referee should be nearer to the event than you are and should have the better view. If the referee cannot see it better than you, then the other AR should be able to. That is why we have three sets of eyes watching the game.

If you CAN see the facts clearly and neither of your colleagues is in a position to do so, then the answer to 1) is no offside, as the ball was last played by or touched or made contact with an opponent. In 2) the answer is offside.…

Question:
Saturday morning our Team played a very heated game in a competitive league. A yellow card was given to the other team; game became very physical and our team ended up winning 3-0. Approximately 3 hours later we had another game in a separate location. The two line refs that were provided were on the team we played and beat earlier that morning. Their coach is actually in charge of the soccer at that particular location. Is this legal? The girls were spotted snickering and laughing as they walked past our team. These refs are in the same age bracket and same division.

USSF answer (October 7, 2008):
While it is regrettable that your team had to have assistant referees who had been your opponents earlier in the day, we are certain that any referee or assistant referee affiliated with the U. S. Soccer Federation would give nothing but a fair and competent performance.…

Question:
Assistant Referee mechanics on signaling a defensive foul in the penalty area. Since both FIFA in the 2008/2009 LOTG interpretation and guidance, and USSF in a Memorandum in May 2008 have issued instructions on AR signals for a foul in the penalty area, I would like some advice to see if my interpretation is correct. The FIFA LOTG states that an AR who sees a foul that would result in a penalty kick, but is not seen by the Referee, should make eye contact with the Referee, raise his flag, and then move briskly to the corner flag. On the other hand, the USSF memorandum states that an AR should indicate that a foul signaled by the Referee has been committed in the penalty area by raising his flag horizontally at waist height. In order to correctly instruct my Assistant Referees I want to be sure: the FIFA instructions are for a foul in the penalty area seen and indicated by the Assistant Referee. The USSF instructions are to indicate to the referee, who has already signaled the foul, that the foul is in the Penalty Area.

USSF answer (October 6, 2008):
Not quite correct, but there is a difference in mechanics between when the referee signals a foul and when the assistant referee signals a foul. In addition, at present there are two possible signals for the assistant referee to make, depending on the level of play.

Referee signals a foul:

• No further AR action is needed beyond getting in position for the restart (unless the referee requests assistance in enforcing the minimum distance)
• If the referee, after stopping play, makes obvious eye contact with the AR, the referee is asking for assistance in locating the foul (probably because the referee saw the foul but was too far away to be sure about whether it was inside or outside the penalty area)
  • If in the AR’s opinion, the offense occurred outside the penalty area, stand still with the flag held straight down at the side (left hand, assuming a standard diagonal)
  • If in the AR’s opinion, the offense occurred inside the penalty area, stand still with the flag held horizontally between the hands (new signal as of 2008)
  • Maintain the signal until acknowledged by the referee

AR signals a direct free kick foul inside the penalty area by a defender:

• Flag straight up
• Eye contact with referee
• Brief waggle of the flag
• If referee waves it down:
  • Drop flag
  • Maintain the offside position as play will be continuing
• If referee stops play:
  • Drop flag
  • Begin moving toward corner

For the highest-level games (MLS and USL) there is another signal, one outlined in a position paper published by USSF in May 2008 and reinforced in the Week in Review WIR 27:

If the AR was of the opinion the foul occurred inside the penalty area and therefore a penalty kick should be awarded, the AR should raise and wiggle the flag and then – after the referee’s whistle – indicate that the foul occurred in the penalty area by holding the flag across his waist mimicking the substitution signal.

We will reconcile these different signals and instructions in the next (2009) edition of the Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials. In the meanwhile, the matter should be covered thoroughly in the pregame conference among the match officials.…

Question:
I was the Referee for a U-17 F Premier game this weekend. I made a call for a corner kick on the same side as AR1 but on the far end of his side ( he was a good 60-70 yards away ). I was on top of the play and only 15 yards or so from the corner flag. AR1 raised his flag and proceeded to tell me that the call should be for a goal kick. I didn’t concur. However, the AR1 has quite a bit of officiating experience (many more years than me) and holds a prominent and longstanding position with our local association, but I have been playing for all my life with NCAA Division 1 playing experience, Nationally licensed coaching experience at a high level and, what I believe, excellent judgment as a referee.

I changed my decision and awarded a goal kick. I immediately regretted that and the coaches began to harass me about the change. At the conclusion of the game, the AR1 said we did the right thing by making sure the call was the right call. I didn’t argue but felt that my initial call was the right call.
What is your suggestion on how I should have handled this situation?

USSF answer (September 15, 2008):
As the referee, you are in charge of the team of officials. It means little that the AR may have considerable experience and makes even less difference that he holds office in your local association. The AR’s job is to give you the best information he or she can, but to remember that the final decision is yours. Your job is to make that decision and stick with it.

If you feel you were pressured into taking the AR’s information as the ultimate word, then you might consider taking appropriate measures. No one should use his or her political position to gain his or her way — or do we learn about doing that sort of thing from the professional politicians?…