Post by Johnny on Apr 16, 2011 9:44:20 GMT 10
Another real-life question from England from my brother in law coach:
'In our game last weekend the ref played advantage to the attacking team who immediately had a shot on goal but the shot was blocked and cleared by the defender but the ref said no advantage and gave a free kick. surely the fact they got into a shooting position and had a shot on goal was the advantage we just did our job and defended the shot! what happens if the defender didn't block it and the keeper saved it would there still be no advantage and award a free kick? its all very complicated it must be hard to make decisions we still won the game though but i was puzzled by the advantage law.
I have already replied to him as follows:
"It is interesting about the advantage in the game you describe.
When the referee thinks there may be advantage he is able to wait for a couple of seconds to see if there is a genuine advantage before he either blows for a free kick or gives the advantage signal. This signal is both arms raised pointing upwards and forwards. Good refs will also clearly and loudly announce something like ‘play on advantage’.
Three further points are relevant to the situation you describe:
1) The advantage hand signal must only be used for advantage and not for ‘no foul’. Some inexperienced refs use the advantage signal for ‘play on no foul’ and this is an error according to the laws of the game.
2) Once the advantage signal has been given and/or the ref says ‘play on advantage’ the referee should not then change his mind and come back for the free kick. This seems to be what your ref did and he gave your opposition ‘two bites at the cherry’ as we say so he was wrong to do this.
3) The amount of time that a referee has to decide after a foul has been committed between giving a decision of either advantage or free kick, is usually recommended as one or two seconds. Ideally decisions should be instant but in cases of advantage the decision should be made within three seconds and no more. When the decision is made it should not be changed even if the advantage given does not work out well for the team that was fouled.
Even though it seems your ref may have got it wrong, have a bit of sympathy for him because the advantage rule is one of the most difficult for refs to apply.
Good luck with your remaining games and remember to be nice to the refs even when they make mistakes – we are only human"
Any other comments are welcome.
'In our game last weekend the ref played advantage to the attacking team who immediately had a shot on goal but the shot was blocked and cleared by the defender but the ref said no advantage and gave a free kick. surely the fact they got into a shooting position and had a shot on goal was the advantage we just did our job and defended the shot! what happens if the defender didn't block it and the keeper saved it would there still be no advantage and award a free kick? its all very complicated it must be hard to make decisions we still won the game though but i was puzzled by the advantage law.
I have already replied to him as follows:
"It is interesting about the advantage in the game you describe.
When the referee thinks there may be advantage he is able to wait for a couple of seconds to see if there is a genuine advantage before he either blows for a free kick or gives the advantage signal. This signal is both arms raised pointing upwards and forwards. Good refs will also clearly and loudly announce something like ‘play on advantage’.
Three further points are relevant to the situation you describe:
1) The advantage hand signal must only be used for advantage and not for ‘no foul’. Some inexperienced refs use the advantage signal for ‘play on no foul’ and this is an error according to the laws of the game.
2) Once the advantage signal has been given and/or the ref says ‘play on advantage’ the referee should not then change his mind and come back for the free kick. This seems to be what your ref did and he gave your opposition ‘two bites at the cherry’ as we say so he was wrong to do this.
3) The amount of time that a referee has to decide after a foul has been committed between giving a decision of either advantage or free kick, is usually recommended as one or two seconds. Ideally decisions should be instant but in cases of advantage the decision should be made within three seconds and no more. When the decision is made it should not be changed even if the advantage given does not work out well for the team that was fouled.
Even though it seems your ref may have got it wrong, have a bit of sympathy for him because the advantage rule is one of the most difficult for refs to apply.
Good luck with your remaining games and remember to be nice to the refs even when they make mistakes – we are only human"
Any other comments are welcome.