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).
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 away of the body? When they got that clear, that is what they show to the referee. As the referee arrives at the monitor he can clearly see the point of contact. In this case the arm is sticking out of the body and the player makes himself unnaturally bigger.
Not much debate about the handball itself, I think. Handball box ticked. But how do you deal with it then? The most crucial consideration is: Does the player prevent an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball?
The Laws of the Game do not specify when a shot on goal is denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity (DOGSO) or stopping a promissing attack (SPA). The LOTG do say this:
“There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for
unsporting behaviour, including if a player handles the ball to interfere with or stop a promising attack.”
But is do we consider this DOGSO or SPA, that’s the question.
In this case there is a goalkeeper in the goal. If there’s one in the goal, there a huge chance that the goalkeeper is able to save the ball. So DOGSO is off the table here.
Greg Barkey from PRO says in the video a yellow card is a correct decision. That’s in line with general guidelines about this. At Uefa is taught that Stopping a shot at goal should normally be deemed as stopping a promissing attack, therefore the offender must also be cautioned.
But sometimes situations are not so clear as in this clip. Then you should keep this in mind for actions when there’s no shot on goal:
I hope you learned something out of this. I do recommend to watch PRO’s Inside Video Review more often.
And if you want to know more about top level refereeing? Make sure to watch Uefa’s documentary Man in the Middle (with lots of subtitles as well).
A new case study: advantage after reckless challenges. It’s a situation from the Rivier Derby between Dortmund and Schalke’04 earlier in 2020. Referee Deniz Aytekin gives the advantage after a reckless challenge and a goal is scored. But what do you do with the tackle? What is the correct disciplinary sanction? That’s what you’ll learn in this case study.
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 so?
At that time, yes VAR was. But due to a recent Laws of the Game change, there are situations where play continues even if the goalkeeper was too early from the line. But when? That’s what we’ll see in the examples below.
Firstly, we’ll watch the game between Scotland and Argentina. The Argentinian penalty kick is saved, but the referee orders a retake.
And what do the Laws of the Game say: When the ball is kicked, the defending goalkeeper must have at least part of one foot touching, or in line with, the goal line.
Although the goalkeeper coming of her line here is only visible by VAR, the fact is that she is very slightly of her line and she saves the ball.
And have we seen this before?
Yes, during a men’s game when Dutch referee Björn Kuipers was active at the 2016 European Championships. “Unfortunately, that goalkeeper moved forward, it was not spotted by the referee’s team”, Collina said then. Check out the situation.
In the previous situation the ball was saved by the goalkeeper, but sometimes the goalkeeper has no influence on the outcome. That’s what we’ll see at the penalty kick in the game between France and Nigeria. VAR Danny Makkelie asks the referee to go the screen, after which she awards a penalty kick. In the clip below at 5 minutes and 10 seconds that awarded penalty kick is taken. As you can see, Wendie Renard from France misses it, but the VAR intervenes.
But what makes this a different situation? Lets see below the clip.
We remember the LOTG about the goalkeeper touching the line? Goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie from Cameroon is not touching the line with at least one foot. But did she have an influence?
Interesting is what the commentator in the clip says at that time. “In fairness to referee Melissa Borjas” she has told the goalkeeper she needs to stay with two feet on the goal-line.
The referee then warns the referee for the second kick and asks her if she understood the rules. But the IFAB has concluded with all football associations that a goalkeeper who has no impact on the kicker or does not save the ball, should not be punished.
The Laws of the Game now say: if the goalkeeper offends: if the ball misses the goal or rebounds from the crossbar or goalpost(s), the kick is only retaken if the goalkeeper’s offence clearly impacted on the kicker.
With the 2020-2021 Laws of the Game the France – Nigeria penalty should not be retaken.
The VAR protocol is added to the Laws of the Game and is very clear on this matter.
Protocol says: “The categories of decision/incident which may be reviewed in the event of a potential clear and obvious error or serious missed incident are” in the category “goal/no goal”:
Other encroachment offences and other infringements which do not directly affect whether a goal is scored cannot be reviewed.” See a case study about encroachment by players.
Because the 1/8 final game between Norway and Australia went to kicks from the penalty mark, referee Riem Hussein had to deal with a unique situation. IFAB has given dispensation to not book goalkeepers (more about that below), but as referee you don’t want 10 out of 10 kicks being retaken.
What Hussien did was a long talk with both goalkeepers to prevent that from going to happen.
During the 2019 Women’s World Cup there would not be yellow cards for goalkeepers for leaving the goal-line during kicks from the penalty mark.
In the 2020-2021 Laws of the Game there was a permanent change. The goalkeeper will be verbally warned for the first offence in the penalty shootout if that had an impact on the player or the outcome. They only get shown a yellow card for the second offence during the series of kicks from the penalty mark.
Below an explantion from IFAB for this law change.
The IFAB has put it this way in the 2019-2020 Laws of the Game pdfs.
“Goalkeepers are not permitted to stand in front of or behind the line. Allowing the goalkeeper to have only one foot touching the goal line (or, if jumping, in line with the goal line) when the penalty kick is taken is a more practical approach as it is easier to identify than if both feet are not on the line. As the kicker can ‘stutter’ in the run, it is reasonable that the goalkeeper can take one step in anticipation of the kick.”
To be clear: that a goalkeeper has to be on his or her line is not new. It’s just clarified.
In the 2020-2021 edition IFAB added about the verbal warning:
“The referee must not signal for the penalty kick to be taken if the goalkeeper is touching the goalposts, crossbar or net, or if they are moving e.g. the goalkeeper has kicked/shaken them.”
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.
What was your call?
A quick recap. The score is 2-2 and there is a corner kick for the Citizens. The cross comes in and touches and touches Laporte’s arm, but it seems not deliberate by the City player. His teammate Gabriel Jesus receives the ball and scores.
Referee Michael Oliver disallows the goal after VAR intervention. But isn’t the handball accidental?
Yes, I’d say so.
Why does the referee and VAR then make the call to disallow the call? Check out the explanation below about the LOTG changes.
It’s an offence if a player: gains possession/control of the ball after it has touched their hand/arm and then:
The second bullet is crucial here, as a teammate of Laporte gets a goal-scoring opportunity (he scores actually).
The reasoning behind this law change? IFAB explains in the Laws of the Game book: “Football expects a player to be penalised for handball if they gain possession/ control of the ball from their hand/arm and gain a major advantage e.g. score or create a goal-scoring opportunity.
NB: it is the second goal from Gabriel Jesus that is disallowed by the video referee. The previous goal was the first in history in the English Premier League.
In this situation VAR tells referee Michael Oliver that there is handball before the goal. Do you prefer the referee to do an on-field review (OFR) or is it fine for you if the VAR tells the referee what to decide? (please reply)
Michael Oliver disallows the goal by Gabriel Jesus without doing an on-field review (OFR), but because the video explains the situation via the headset. What do you prefer? https://t.co/YaWrRBUoIg
— Jan ter Harmsel (@dutchreferee) August 18, 2019
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.
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 can see on the footage, it was a messy situation for the goal. I am assuming that the ball is shot to the second post, but it is coming short. I am still trying to dodge the ball, but it touches my foot and went straight into the goal.”
At that moment he wants to disappear, as he knew he has to allow the goal. It went from 3-1 to 3-2 due to that goal and then it’s very important to stay focused as a referee. Luckily the goal did not influence the result, as the home team won with 4-2.
The referee expects a ball at the second post, but it’s played shortly and he “scores” a goal
Situations like this will not happen again in the next seasons. As you know there are a three reasons when the ball is out of play. Two are the common ones that have always been in the Laws of the Game:
But the third reason is new: when the ball touches a match official and remains on the field of play. Not in all cases, but the referee has to stop play if
In all these cases, play is restarted with a dropped ball. But in 2019-2020 the LOTG mention a new way of restarting for a situation mentioned above …
Because the ball is in the penalty area when touched by the referee, the restart is a little different now. The 2019-2020 Laws of the Game say:
“The ball is dropped for the defending team goalkeeper in their penalty area if, when play was stopped
Thanks, Peter, for mentioning it in the comments.
(Below some personal experiences, feel free to share yours when you touched the ball by accident)
My personal case was a bit odd. I was following play on the left side of the field of play. Then the midfielder shot the ball at chest height and I had no chance to move away. If I wasn’t there, the ball would have gone out of play.
Because of my touch, the opposing team gets ball posession. They pass a few times and shoot on goal. An easy one, you think. But then the goalkeeper lets the ball slip through her fingers and a goal is scored. Even though there was no chance to move away from the ball, you feel sorry for the goal being scored.
What are your experiences with touching the ball?
The referee plays advantage perfectly when you let the non-offending team build up an attack. But where do you apply the advantage? In this blog post you’ll see video examples, plus criteria to keep in mind when giving advantage.
Because of a great example in the last UCL round, I thought about writing this blog story. Have a look at the video below.
Referee Carlos del Cerro Grande plays the advantage in the clip above. Dybala from Juventus is on the left wing. In the middle Ajax player Ekkelenkamp clearly pulls Ronaldo back, because he wants to stop him moving forward.
As pointed out the player on the wing has a lot of space in front of him, which gives the referee a good reason for play to continue. Good to notice how closely the Spanish referee follows play after a counter-attack.
Below you’ll find all the criteria to keep in mind.
The Laws of the Game are clear on this subject. “The referee allows play to continue when an offence occurs and the non-offending team will benefit from the advantage.”
But where does the caution come in? “If the referee plays the advantage for an offence for which a caution / send off would have been issued had play been stopped, this caution / send off must be issued when the ball is next out of play, except for the denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity when the player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour.”
In this case Carlos del Cerro Grande whistles when the ball goes out of play, because players have to wait. He signals the pulling and shows Ekkelenkamp a yellow card.
“Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play,
violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear
opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player when the ball is next out of play but if the player plays the ball or hallenges/interferes with an opponent, the referee will stop play, send off the player and restart with an indirect free kick, unless the player committed a more serious offence.
The referee may play advantage whenever an offence occurs but should
consider the following in deciding whether to apply the advantage or stop play:
The Laws of the Game have changed on advantages and stopping a promising attack. If the foul is just SPA, then you don’t show a card when applying advantage. In this case above you’d show a card for unsporting behaviour, but what if there’s a reckless foul? Check out this great decision by Deniz Aytekin (with clip).
Swedish referee Victor has published a few video’s on his YouTube channel, which you’ll find below. For example this one, where he gives advantage on the attacking half of the field of play.
Advantage on the middle third of the field of play. What you notice:
Advantage on the middle third of the field of play. This is where you need to be careful if there’s a chance for a promising attack. If you look at the clip you’ll notice that the AR even flags for the foul. The advantage works perfectly here, but always ask yourself where play is going.
Do you have any tips or examples from top referees or your own games? Share them with me via jan@dutchreferee.com