Re-start after (no) advantage

@Padfoot its getting really boring now. Can we just have one thread you post in that you don't try and belittle everyone else in an effort to make yourself feel superior?

Can we have one post where someone who asks for advice actually posts accurate information rather than posts where people give information only for the OP the come back and decide that actually it didn't happen the way they first posted it....or the answers received aren't to their liking (speaking generally here not specifically) so add new information or amend their version of events thus rendering the efforts of those who had already responded pointless......see my very first response to this thread......no belittling, nothing controversial......not until someone tried to be controversial by offering an alternative scenario that would have given a solution where the referee was not necessarily incorrect in law. Lo and behold if the OP doesn't come back and "oh, actually, that is what happened....." totally changing the scenario they were seeking advice for.......

Considering referees are supposed to be able to formulate accurate reports depicting critical match events for the purposes of disciplinary reports......It's incredibly tedious when they can't even describe their own scenario without having to change it several posts in.

As for helping referees improve and develop.......been doing it for years, through training, assessing and mentoring......so i am quite comfortable over my contributions in that regard.
What I won't do is sugar coat things or wrap people in cotton wool.............if you want soft and fluffy try Mumsnet......

In future I shall just not bother offering any advice and you can slap yourselves on the back at a job well done.

"However, the foul tackle just unsettled red enough to allow another white defender to run across and clear the ball off for a red throw, approx. in line with edge of penalty area. I blow for free kick as advantage hadn't accrued and, other than one inevitable complaint from a white that it wasn't a foul, everyone else is happy."

From the OP it's clear that the ball was out of play before he blew for the free kick.

Exactly. It's obvious what the OP meant, going right back to the very first post as the sequence of events is pretty clearly laid out. You'd have to be incredibly pedantic and argumentative to even consider reading it another way.


Anyway, to go back to the original incident, I was wondering if anyone has ever asked a team if they would like the advantage or not in a borderline situation like this? I don't know how you'd go about doing it, but I've certainly hesitated long enough to have a player shout something like "where's the advantage ref?" and used that as justification for going back before. It's not always possible to judge it fairly, especially in odd situations like this where the fouled team have a "secret weapon".

Dear all,

I also came with the same opinion as @Padfoot , the OP said was he allowed in law to allow the home team to choose?

The answer is NO, it is the referees decision as to whether advantage has accrued.

This thread has then turned on to whether he had to awarded the free-kick. No, if @RefJef had rules the advantage has accrued, then the throw-in is the correct decision.

@RefJef did say he wanted a learning point, not a arguement. The learning point is the offended clubs does NOT get the choice, it is the referees regardless how they moan!

lincs22 said:

Dear all,

I also came with the same opinion as @Padfoot , the OP said was he allowed in law to allow the home team to choose?

The answer is NO, it is the referees decision as to whether advantage has accrued.

This thread has then turned on to whether he had to awarded the free-kick. No, if @RefJef had rules the advantage has accrued, then the throw-in is the correct decision.

@RefJef did say he wanted a learning point, not a arguement. The learning point is the offended clubs does NOT get the choice, it is the referees regardless how they moan!

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Fair point. I dont believe any1 has disagreed with this.
Obviously something caused ref jef to change his decision. The point I have been making is that is permissible to change your decision so long as play hasnt restarted, however I wouldnt allow players to influence that decision making process. In actual fact I'd be hesitant to change a decision full stop without a trusted second opinion.

James Long said:

Fair point. I dont believe any1 has disagreed with this.
Obviously something caused ref jef to change his decision. The point I have been making is that is permissible to change your decision so long as play hasnt restarted, however I wouldnt allow players to influence that decision making process. In actual fact I'd be hesitant to change a decision full stop without a trusted second opinion.

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A realisation that you've made a mistake on your own is a perfectly valid reason though?

I had to stop play to issue 2 yellow cards this weekend, one to each side and when asked what the restart was, I pointed the wrong way. A player questioned this and I realised that through the process of issuing the cards, I'd got the two offences (a cynical trip and a AA retaliation) mixed up and had to reverse my decision to give the FK against the original trip. As others have said though, play hadn't restarted, so there was no problem - and I made sure to allow extra time for all players to get back in position after some of them had started up the pitch in the wrong direction as well.

This is an example of a player pointing out quite correctly that I'd got confused - and as long as it's done in a reasonable fashion, I've got no problem with them asking or a referee changing a decision because of it.

GraemeS said:

A realisation that you've made a mistake on your own is a perfectly valid reason though?

I had to stop play to issue 2 yellow cards this weekend, one to each side and when asked what the restart was, I pointed the wrong way. A player questioned this and I realised that through the process of issuing the cards, I'd got the two offences (a cynical trip and a AA retaliation) mixed up and had to reverse my decision to give the FK against the original trip. As others have said though, play hadn't restarted, so there was no problem - and I made sure to allow extra time for all players to get back in position after some of them had started up the pitch in the wrong direction as well.

This is an example of a player pointing out quite correctly that I'd got confused - and as long as it's done in a reasonable fashion, I've got no problem with them asking or a referee changing a decision because of it.

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Absolutely. Perfectly valid.

Although they changed the form of wording slightly and expressed it as a negative for some reason, if we take it that the law still means (in essence) that the referee can only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or on the advice of another match official, which applies here? Obviously it was not on the advice of another official so did the referee here really decide his original decision was incorrect? If he did, then fine and dandy but based his own description of the events, it sounds as if he based it solely on the request of the players. If that was the only basis then I don't think it is supported by the law as written.