|
|
|
Q. How could the referee possibly miss that foul? A. The foul seemed so obvious, you KNOW the referee would have blown the whistle if he saw it. How could he have missed it? First, it is possible for a referee to see a foul and not blow the whistle. One reason for this is a concept known as "advantage". A referee may refrain from blowing his whistle because to do so would remove the advantage from the player who was fouled. The referee should not reward a player who is committing a foul by taking away the advantage of the person who is fouled. Sometimes a referee will say, "Play On" and give a hand signal to indicate that he is invoking "advantage". Sometimes the referee will not give such a signal; a signal is not required. Sometimes the referee will not see a foul because he is looking elsewhere when the foul is committed. Where might he be looking? The referee is responsible for the whole game, not just the play occurring around the ball. A referee has to frequently glance up the field to see if any player is in an offside position. At the instant that a ball is kicked, the referee must know if it is likely that someone will be offside. It is too late to decide on offside when the intended receiver gets the ball. That is because offside is judged at the instant that the ball is kicked, NOT when the pass is received. In the split second that a referee is sneaking a peek up the field, a foul can occur that the referee does not see. He cannot blow his whistle just because a fan complains! Another place that the referee may be looking, is where he thinks a foul may be committed. If the referee suspects that a player is doing things behind his back (not your son, of course!) he will periodically check out the suspect player to try and catch him in the act. When a player is upset by something, he is a prime candidate for a hot-headed act. If the referee perceives that a player may be injured, the referee may watch the player to see if the player is OK. Sometimes only the referee and a few players are aware that someone might be hurt. There is always the chance that the referee is screened. You can see the referee, and you can see the foul. Is there someone between the referee and the foul? Does the foul involve a part of the body that the referee cannot see, because the player's body is screening the illegal act? Perhaps there are two fouls being committed at the same time, and you can only see one of them, while the referee sees them both. Sometimes, opponents engage in simultaneous illegal acts against each other, such as holding or unfair charging. The referee may not call either foul if the fouls are not a threat to someone's safety, and the players seem to be equally at fault. As you can see, there are a lot of things happening in a soccer game that vie for a referee's attention. A foul can occur anywhere on the field, and the referee might miss it while his attention is elsewhere, but he is still doing his job properly. Alternately, the referee might actually see the same foul that you see, and not call the foul for good reason.
A. According to the United States Soccer Federation "Laws of the Game", 1999/2000, Law 12, a hand ball occurs when a player "handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area)." We are going to restrict this discussion to plays that do not include a goalie handling the ball in the penalty area. The key words in the quote above are "handles" and "deliberately". The wording is meant to indicate intent. If the referee believes that contact between a hand or arm (from now on I will just refer to hand), and the ball, was not a case of deliberate handling, no foul occurred. When a ball and a hand come into contact, the referee needs to determine what the player was trying to do. The following things need to be considered: the age of the player, the skill level of the player, the circumstances of the play. For example, a younger player may throw up his hands to protect himself when a ball is kicked at him from a close distance. If the ball hits his hand, what is the call? If the referee judges that the player was reacting out of instinctive self-preservation, and if the player gained no advantage, it probably will not be called a handball. However, if the ball lands at the player's feet, giving him an advantage, a handball may be called. In a similar situation, if the player who kicks the ball is not close, even younger player should have time to do something other than raise his hands when the ball comes toward him. An older player with more experience should be accustomed to keeping his hands where they belong in most situations. However, hands need to be somewhere! If a player has his hands by his side, or is running and is moving his hands in a normal way, what is the call if a ball hits the hand or arm? The question is this: did the player play the ball, or did the ball play the player? If the player did not have the opportunity to move his arm out of the way, and he does not make a motion to take advantage of the ball hitting him, it should not be called a handball. On the other hand (pun intended), a player who has the time to avoid contacting the ball with his hand must make the effort to do so. As before, if the ball lands at his feet after contact, the play is more suspect and a foul may be called. It is rare for obvious deliberate handling of the ball to occur. This is the easy call. More often, the judgment of the referee needs to be brought to bear when hand meets soccer ball. What is the opinion of the referee? Two plays where a ball meets a hand may result in different calls, because of factors like those discussed in this article. It is not favoritism that results in a whistle on one play and no whistle on another. It is more likely to be subtle differences between the two plays that causes the referee to call a handball foul on one play, but not another.
Q. Offside seems to be missed quite a bit. A. There are two things to consider with offside: what is the rule, and how can it be applied in Greece Boys Soccer (GBS)? The first thing to know about offside is the term "offside position". A player must be in an "offside position" to be called offside. However, being in an offside position is not enough to be offside. To be in an offside position, an offensive player must be on his opponents half of the field, and he must be closer to the goal line than the ball and the second-to-last defender. Note the offensive player must be closer to the goal line, not to the goal. Usually the last defender is the goalie, and the second-to-the-last defender is a fullback, but that does not have to be the case. If a player is in an offside position, he can be called offside if, at the moment that the ball is played by one of his teammates, he is interfering with play, interfering with an opponent, or gaining an advantage by his position. Note that "at the moment that the ball is played" means that the referee needs to know that the person is in the offside position at the instant that the ball is kicked, headed, or otherwise played by his teammate. It does not matter where the player is when he gets the ball, only where he is when the ball is kicked. A fast, smart forward, as soon as the ball is kicked, may sprint down the field and get the ball yards past a slow or sleeping second-to-the-last defender. That does not matter; he is not offside if he was on-side when the ball was kicked. That is why a referee needs to be constantly looking up the field and taking mental snapshots of player positions. The referee knows that most screaming fans only know where the player is when he gets the ball, while the referee knows where the player was when the ball was kicked. If you have ever watched a high level game, you will have observed that there are 3 officials on the field: a referee and 2 assistant referees (formerly called linesmen). The main reason for the assistant referees is to judge offside! This is not because the rule is complex, but because most of the time the referee cannot be in a good position to judge offside, and be able to judge the rest of the game, too. Very often, the referee will be 20 or more yards behind a fast moving play, especially in the older age groups. From that vantage point, the referee cannot tell if a player is a few yards offside, especially if no defender is near him. However, someone on the sideline who is even with the second-to-the-last defender can tell! And that is where an Assistant Referee positions himself: even with the second-to-the-last defender. GBS however, does not provide official assistant referees. GBS uses linesmen provided by the teams, and the linesmen may only decide when the ball is out of play. That means that GBS games can be expected to have missed offside calls. It is a fact of life when a game has a referee and no assistant referees. When a coach tells me before a game that he pulls the offside trap, my response is that you live, and die, by the offside trap. An official cannot signal offside because he THINKS offside occurs; he can only signal an offside of which he is certain. You can expect that offside will occur and will not be caught by a single referee who does not have assistant referees. You, as a GBS coach, must take this fact of life into consideration when you create your game plan.
Q. What happens if a player is injured as a result of a foul? A. One time I refereed a game in which a player broke his leg. There was a foul on the play, but the foul was called on the player who broke his leg! That goes to show that there is no obvious answer regarding what happens when an injury occurs. It is only obvious that the injured player must be attended to. Law 12 deals with Fouls and Misconduct, including when a player: Kicks or attempts to kick an opponent Trips an opponent Jumps at an opponent Strikes or attempts to strike an opponent Pushes an opponent and other fouls. The fouls mentioned above result in direct kicks or penalty kicks for the opponent. Other sanctioned actions may result in direct or indirect kicks. Injury is not really discussed in Law 12, except that "Violent Conduct" is one of the reasons for which a red card can be given, "Unsporting Behavior" is a reason for a yellow card, and "Dangerous Play" is a reason for an indirect free kick. Thus, when one player injures another, unless the referee believes that the injury was because of "Violent Conduct", or "Unsporting Behavior", no card will be given. Even if a foul is assessed, the referee may believe that the injury was the result of a fluke circumstance, and not deserving of a card. If a player is injured, and it is because of a "Violent Conduct" in the opinion of the referee, then the player must be shown the red card. The player must leave the game. The referee must inform the league of the ejection and the circumstances the caused it. It is then the responsibility of the league to determine what sanctions to impose on the player, besides those that are ordinarily brought about by a red card.
Q. I want to be a referee. How can I become one? A. To become a referee, you need to do the following things:
Once you become a referee, you must pay annual dues, take an annual refresher test, and attend several referee meetings. The meetings are used to keep referees up on changes in the game, and to assist referees in becoming better at what they do.
Q. What are the rules regarding goalie use of the hands? A. The laws of the game mention the goalie in a number of places. The goalie is the only player who is specifically named as being required, for example. Over the past 10 years, more changes have been made that affect the goalie than have affected the other positions. The goalie can use his hands to play the ball, when he is in his own team’s penalty box, but only under certain circumstances. For example, the goalie can use his hands to play a ball that was kicked (or headed, etc.) by an opponent. However, he cannot use his hands to play a ball that was intentionally kicked to him by the feet of his teammate. The prohibition against the goalie playing the ball with his hands as described above has 3 components, all of which must be present for the prohibition to be in effect:
Another situation in which a goalie may not play the ball with his hands is when the ball goes directly to the goalie on a throw-in by the goalie’s teammate. Yet another situation in which a goalie may not play the ball with his hands occurs when the goalie plays the ball with his hands legally, and then stops playing the ball with his hands. Once the goalie stops playing the ball with his hands, he may only play the ball like an ordinary field player until the ball is played by another player. Still another situation in which a goalie may not play the ball with his hands is after taking his 4 allowed steps while holding the ball in his hands. The penalty for any of the infractions listed above is an indirect free kick from the spot of the infraction. The indirect free kick must be moved outside of the goal area if the infraction occurred in the goal area.
Last modified: February 27, 2001 |
|
