Interfering with an opponent, what is that exactly? In this blog post two examples fully explained. Both goals you’ll seem to count in the first place, but were disallowed. Some lessons about the Laws of the Game, plus some tips to manage the situation. The first clip is from 2021 in the game between FC Twente and Heerenveen. The clip below starts at 7 min 20s. Important task for you: write down what your decision is and why.  Interfering with an opponent in Eredivisie So, what was your decision? Here’s with a few images what happened. The attacker is in an offside position at the moment of the pass, but…

Playing in dangerous manner: a low header by a player. Leicester player Albrighton played the ball with his head near the ground while a Newcastle player wanted to kick the ball. Is it a foul? How do you continue/restart? Answers to this for you as referee can be found in the blog post below.

Shot on goal blocked with hand: a new case study is live. In this blog story you’ll learn more about the considerations for the correct disciplinary action. The video below starts at 2m42s. You’ll see an incident of a shot on goal being blocked by a defender. As always I advise you to watch it and decide for yourself if it’s a foul and what disciplinary action you’d take (plus reason for it). Is it a deliberate handball or not First of all you have to determine whether it’s a deliberate handball. It’s interesting to hear the VAR talk about the position of the arm. Is it close or far…

Goalkeepers and penalty kicks: what does the referee have to do if a goalkeeper does not touch the line when the kick is taken? And is there any difference if the ball is not saved, but goes wide? You’ll learn about that in this case study. Since 2019 the Laws of the Game clearly mention that the goalkeeper has to be on or above the goal-line. With the use of VAR in the the 2019 Women’s World Cup we noticed something really new. Where goalkeepers usually take a step forward with penalty kicks, the video referee interferes at this final tournament in Paris. But is the VAR correct to do…

Handball before goal is scored. A new situation in the Laws of the Game, explained with text and video in this blog post. Make sure that you know how to handle from the 2019-2020 season onwards. Because of the recent law changes, you need to make a different decision as referee compared to previous seasons. The scenes are from the game between Manchester City and Tottenham. Referee Michael Oliver allows the goal, but then VAR tells him to wait. Update: Below I’ve added a clip from German Bundesliga as well. Have a look and make a decision. The video Explanation of handball before goal What was your call? A quick…

When the ball touches match official and the referee scores a goal. You think this part of the laws are not needed and you wonder why this is added to the 2019-2020 Laws of the Game? Because it really happens sometimes, as you can see in Dutch amateur football. The referee has to allow the goal in this case, but what is the decision in 2019-2020? Read more about that below the video. Reaction from the referee The referee was very open about the situation above one day later in the media. Of course he felt terrible ‘and I am not proud of it’. He explains what happens. “As you…