Question Number: 19119

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/18/2008

RE: Adult

Warren of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

This question is a follow up to question 19077

I confess to being confused by the answers provided to this question. Unless the rules are specifically different in North America, I would have said that FIFA law 9 still has that ball in play until the referee has stopped play (which you specifically said he had not done at the point the potential foul against the keeper occurred).

Notwithstanding that fact, I believe the direct free-kick to blue for the push offence outside the area was correct.

However, if the attacker's challenge had been considered serious foul play or violent conduct then they should have been sent off - I see nothing in FIFA Law 12 that says that a cautionable or sending off offence must occur while the ball is in play.

My question is this - could someone please clarify the guidelines on advantage in the FIFA Laws of the game booklet 2008 edition p79 where is says "Should a referee "muck-up" an advantage there is nothing wrong, if a player complains, in saying "Sorry I got it wrong".

If I have understood the laws correctly, there is no such thing as specifically closing the case on a possible advantage situation, even by calling "advantage" (a common refereeing practice but not one mentioned in the FIFA laws)- it's just that the longer you take before deciding whether there is a tangible advantage or calling the original foul, the poorer the quality of the refereeing according to FIFA (p79).

Have I understood those guidelines correctly ?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the referee accepts the AR's flag for the first foul, play would have been deemed to stop at that point, even though the referee would not yet have announced that fact by the blowing of his whistle. The referee is authorized to make decisions based on input from the AR's and 4th Official.

You are correct, that misconduct can occur whether the ball is in play or not.

Law 5 tells us the referee "allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time." The USSF has said "at that time" means within a few seconds. If you wait beyond that time, you don't go back to the original foul.

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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The referee has accepted the ARs flag so play stopped at that point. Anything after is misconduct. You are correct, misconduct may occur at ANY time. In the US, advantage MUST be realized within 2-3 seconds or the play comes back

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Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

According to the new Additional Instructions and Guidelines for Referees issued by FIFA, the referee has only a few seconds to determine whether the advantage allowed has materialized. If not, the referee should whistle the offense and give the appropriate punishment and restart, at the point where the offense occurred. Important to remember is play stops when the referee makes the decision, not when he finally manages to get the whistle to lips and blow. This could take a second or two, but as we know, in those seconds things can occur. The referee must demonstrate courage and conviction, following the Laws in all matters.

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