Question Number: 16146

Law 6 - Assistant Referee 7/27/2007

RE: Adult

bobby of toronto, ontario canada asks...

as an assistant i was told that it is incorrect to hold your flag at the spot of an offside until it is kicked. i was told that once the ball is placed i should drop my flag. also on a goal kick i would point with my shoulders toward the field, i was told to open my shoulders perpendicular to the touch line not parallel. i tried to read about this procedure and couldn't find it anywhere. was what i was doing incorrect or is it just a matter of preference?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The signal by the AR has two purposes - to tell everyone that an offside infraction occurred, and to indicate where the restart is to take place. Once that has been accomplished, the referee can drop the signal and move to be in position for play. In youth and amateur leagues, players may not be as fast in spotting the ball, and may look to the AR for further assistance. Unfortunately that means sometimes we have trained them that the ball placement is correct when we lower the flag.

In the US, the proper signal for a goal kick is to face the field squarely, hold the flag in the hand nearest the goal, and point it straight into the field. I understand that in England the AR would face down the line toward the center, with the flag pointing into the field. I don't know if that is the official way to do things, if it was an old signal, or if it's just a hard-to-kill myth.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

FIFA have illustrated, on pages 90-97 of the 2007-2008 Laws of the Game, the flag signals of the assistant referee. They have also written the why of each signal. You should be able to obtain the .pdf copy of the Laws of the Game on FIFA's Website.

Needless to say the referee who directed you to do some of the things he did has not read current directives.

Regards,