Advantage Rule

[whodey]

Im glad that we are seeing more and more refs use the advantage rule, but when it's being improperly/enforced used it creates more of a hinderance to the flow of the game.

In a game that was played this weekend there was an instance where a player was fouled and advantage was called, he was able to retain possession for a step or two before he was dispossessed quickly after. The player at that point stopped and questioned the ref about a free kick only to be told "I gave you advantage". The thing is that this really isn't an advantage, there was no advantage to stumbling after being fouled then dispossessed right away, we'd rather have the free kick, in my mind that should have come back for a free kick. Is the rule not something along these lines: advantage will be given if the fouled player(s) team retains possession and uses the advantage, if it is not advantageous for the attacking team the whistle will be blown and the free kick will be brought back to where the original foul occurred. Again, I love the fact we're actually playing the advantage rule, I'd just like it to be implemented correctly.

[vislref]

Hi whodey,

First of all, it is important to note that when it comes to advantage it is very difficult to apply one blanket rule to always follow. Each situation must be assessed individually.

As a referee, it is not our responsibility to give "second chances" if advantage is used poorly. If a player is fouled, retains possession, and promptly fires a pass directly to an opponent, or shoots wide, dribbles into danger and is dispossessed, etc., that play is NOT called back. Advantage was realized and execution was lacking. If, however, the missed pass/shot/quick dispossession is a direct result of the foul in the opinion of the referee, play should be called back for the free kick/PK. There is no specific time period in which the referee must make this decision, but usually 3-5 seconds is a good guideline. Another thing we look for with advantage is team support. If the fouled party has no team members supporting him/her, we usually consider there to be no advantage.

Hope this helps clear things up a bit.

[dalamar]

Just wanted to expand upon what vislref said and also,
here is an excellent detailed explanation of the advantage rule with video examples. The article was posted in 2014, I don't believe advantage has been changed since then. It's definitely worth a read by players and referees alike.
footballrefereeing.blogspot.ca/2014/07/understand-advantage-rule.html

Advantage is also one of the least well understood rules by players, and as mentioned by vislref, there is no blanket rule with regards to advantage. Calling or not calling an advantage is essentially a judgement call by the referee, making it significantly more subjective than other rules such as Offside or Cautionable Offences. As such, it is by nature one of the more controversial parts of soccer games.

I find the confusion often comes down to the difference between 'team advantage', 'ball advantage', and how players/referees interpret it. In general, referees consider how the overall play is developing and how the foul influenced the non-offending teams ability to continue/start a promising offensive/defensive move, as opposed to just specific players involved in the foul.
Whether the player retains the ball isn't really that relevant, as players could be fouled and maintain the ball but have lost the opportunity to set up a promising attack through the foul.
For example, when a player running through about to go on a breakaway gets their shirt tugged holding them back and providing the infringing team the opportunity to get additional defenders back to cover.
Alternatively, a player could be fouled and lose the ball, but the foul could have pushed the ball to another player on the non-infringing team creating a clear chance to set up a promising attack.

[div1]

I've seen the call used properly - and in my opinion, sometimes executed in a strange way.

I know 1 thing that helps for sure - and refs can use this tool (and are supposed to I believe) - making sure the audio & visual of playing advantage heard and displayed!
As soon as I see the ref doing those things, I see how it defuses potential b**ching and just lets everybody know that they are on top of it etc.

All the other points brought up are quite valid - I think there will always be a difference of judgement there - especially when people watching/involved are typically supporting 1 of 3 teams out there.

[LMessi]

The laws plainly say that the idea of the advantage rule is to benefit the team that has been fouled. They do not however list individual occurrences that absolve the ref from having to make a decision. Soccer is a game of skill that isn't supposed to reward fouling teams and in fact aims to punish them. Of course ambiguity is abound but If you let a div 4 player take a rushed shot from 30 yards with players in the way and hide behind the line "you aren't giving them a second chance" then you are hiding from your duties and protecting the offending party. It's not your job to give a second chance per se, but it is your job to make sure they get the best chance once they've been fouled. You are punishing someone for making a bad pass before you are willing to punish someone for kicking an opponent or cheating in some other way. This is counterintuitive. There aren't many teams on the island that would rather have a shot from open play from distance shortly after getting kicked/tripped instead of the chance to take an unchallenged shot/cross with the added advantage of having several of their team mates in and around the goal area. Be careful that you aren't using "they got a shot off" as a blanket excuse not to do your job. If you could freeze time and ask them "free kick or this shot?" what would their answer be? This is the guess you should be trying to make. If you want to wait to see if it flies into the top corner, go right ahead, but make sure if you aren't going back to give the free kick that it's because you feel they would've wanted that shot instead and not because you've made up your own rule about getting shots off and making bad passes.

A player beats a defender in the box, the defender slaps him in the face on his way past, you (for some reason) play advantage and the freshly slapped attacker attempts to square a ball for a team mate that gets cut out. Are your really going to base your decision (penalty or not) based on the quality of the pass? Refs are to judge the situation, not the skill. Shot from 12 yards or pull off a play/shot after getting slapped? What would they want given the choice? You could let them shoot, but that doesn't mean you can't give them the penalty when it doesn't go in.