The Ref Stop

Advantage on an Offside Offense

N

NOVARef

Active Member
Should be a simple answers for you guys but I had a situation where a player in an offside position receives the ball from a teammate and their 1st touch goes right to the goalkeeper who scoops it up and punts it up field. I blow the whistle for offside, but the coach is upset because he wants advantage to be played. I don't see where I can play advantage in this situation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but advantage is for fouls, some misconduct, and now restarts (foul throws, goal kicks, etc). Thoughts? Thanks!
 
The Ref Stop
NOVARef said:
Should be a simple answers for you guys but I had a situation where a player in an offside position receives the ball from a teammate and their 1st touch goes right to the goalkeeper who scoops it up and punts it up field. I blow the whistle for offside, but the coach is upset because he wants advantage to be played. I don't see where I can play advantage in this situation. Correct me if I'm wrong, but advantage is for fouls, some misconduct, and now restarts (foul throws, goal kicks, etc). Thoughts? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Advantage can be played for any offence (or incorrectly taken restart) that occurs, where the other team will benefit from playing advantage - so as the attacker committed an offside offence, you can play advantage from it.
 
Thanks. I certainly read this section but, for some reason, I "read" fouls in my mind and not offenses. My bad. With this all said, in general, I think that, more often than not, the keeper having the ball in their hands would be an advantage unless that was one hell of a big touch from the attacking player.
 
You can't really win, as if you play advantage and the keeper then miskicks it straight to an opponent the same coach will be demanding a free kick.
 
We absolutely can play advantage on OS. But there seems to be a built in resistance to doing so. Even in professional games OS seems to be routinely whistled when the ball is in the GK's hands. (And it probably happens more in those games because of delayed flags in the world of VAR.) I really don't understand why the flag isn't waved down and advantage played on those.
 
If a goalkeeper has it fully in their hands and under control then I’ll play advantage. Any other time I’ll give the (indirect) free kick. Playing advantage in the defensive third is just not worth the risk.
 
bester said:
The USSF used to, incorrectly, say you could only play advantage on law 12 offences.
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I'm going to defend USSF (a little bit) here. Often (certainly not always) what USSF had in the Advice to Referees (which no longer exists) was taken from prior IFAB decisions or advice that was no longer circulated. (I think some of them went back to the Decisions of the International Board, which was the second column of the Laws book back in the Roman Numeral Days of the Laws.) And there were discussions with IFAB or FIFA (I forget which) about the ATR--in one case famously resulting in a difference between the printed version of that year's edition and the same year's on-line edition. (It was a somewhat obscure type of event where the question was whether the restart was a GK or IFK--I don't remember exactly.) On this particular issue, I don't recall the genesis of this particular advice in the ATR. But I agree the game is better without limiting the possibility of advantage to Law 12. (Though I think extending to improper restarts was a mistake.)

I miss the ATR. While its faults were what was always what got highlighted, it was a tremendous resource for new referees who didn't have a lot of experience with the Game before they started reffing. And in the US, that was a lot of those going into reffing soccer who didn't play as kids. But I think now there is also better information available for other sources and more new refs are former players, so it would be less valuable than it once was.
 
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