Question Number: 27793

Law 5 - The Referee 9/22/2013

RE: Recreational Under 13

Brian H of Seattle, Washington USA asks...

Attacker is playing the ball towards the goal line with a defender challenging him. About 5 yards from the goal line and outside the penalty area the attacker shoves the defender and the attacker immediately kicks the ball out of bounds over the goal line. Is advantage a reasonable call here since the result of the foul was a restart in favor of the fouled team?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Brian,

If allowing the natural restart (ie goal kick) is more advantageous then awarding the free kick then yes, we can consider advantage in this fashion.

But be careful - especially when there are blatant/aggressive fouls like this, the referee will generally need to be seen to be taking action.

I don't think too many players would really follow the reasoning behind just allowing the goal kick (don't forget - players and spectators tend not think about the laws as deeply as we do), so in their eyes it's just inaction by the referee. The advantage of the goal kick is negligible, really.

At this young age in particular I doubt they'd understand the logic behind not penalising the push - awarding the foul sends a clear message to everybody that you saw something that you won't tolerate, so don't forget the value in that when you're deciding whether to award the foul or the goal kick.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brian
At under 13 I would see little advantage in not penalising the blatant push by an attacker in this position other than if it is inside the penalty area line the ball can be put into play with a shorter pass and if the goalkeeper is a strong kicker the team might prefer him to take a regular goal kick and for all defenders to push out towards the half way line. Otherwise he has to go significantly out of his area to take the kick.
It also shows that the referee has seen the foul and that he has taken action. If the push is blatant with intent then further action might be taken such as either a strong word or a caution.
At senior level I would probably go with the goal kick as there will be an advantage of no offside from the resultant goalkick whereas there will be from the free kick plus the players may expect a push / charge in this position which may not bother the player. Again if there is a reaction then the 'best' will be the free kick.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I think advantage would be unwise here as it sounds as if the attacker committed a blatant foul. Punish the foul and award a DFK