Positioning

In order to see a challenge, we must position ourselves to see between players. If you are looking at me from the front, you won't know if anyone is pushing my back. If you are looking at me from the back, you won't know if I am pushing someone in front of me. So you have to see between two people in order to correctly assess pushing, holding, and similar fouls.

When a GK is about to punt a kick, we need to anticipate where the ball will land. Oftentimes players will gather around the landing area to challenge for the ball. In the process, there may be some offences. Please watch the video below as an opportunity to learn how to position yourself better. As a general rule of thumb, you want the play to be between your lead AR and yourself. You also want to position yourself so you can see between players.

Offside (gaining advantage)

Making a correct offside (gaining advantage) decision can be tricky. As referees, we may forget the fact that a player who receives a ball was in an offside position first. But we may believe they were on just because they were onside when a deflection or a save happened. 

If a defender makes a deliberate play on the ball, offside is reset. But when there is a deflection or a save, it is not reset. Please see the video below. At the moment of the first shot, there was an offside player. The ball is deflected and saved before the offside player scores. This goal cannot stand. Because the defender did not deliberately play the ball (there only were a deflection and a save), the player who seemingly scored the goal must be penalized for offside (gaining advantage).

Wall management

Let's talk a bit more about FK wall management. When there is a wall and the attacking team has 2 or more players ready to take the kick, our awareness needs to go up. This is because the defensive wall often moves closer to the ball as soon as the first kicker is about to take the free kick. If the first kicker does not take the kick and the second player ends up taking the kick, the wall may be much closer to the kick than 10 yards.

Watch the example below. The referee, in general, did a good job setting the wall 10 yards away from the free kick location (this was an IFK inside the penalty area). But as soon as the first attacker pretends that she would take a kick, the wall encroaches. As a result, by the time the kick was actually taken, the wall was not even 5 yards away from the kick.

In this situation, the referee should have awarded another indirect freekick. Unless the offence is repeated or is tactical in nature according to the referee, a caution is not needed.

DOGSO or SPA

Sometimes the difference between DOGSO and SPA is small. In some situations, three out of four criteria for DOGSO are met, but not all four. In that case, a red card cannot be given. DOGSO requires all four criteria to be met. 

Below, you will find a video in which three out of four criteria were met. The distance to the goal, the number of defenders, and the direction of play were all checked for DOGSO. However, the likelihood of gaining or keeping control of the ball was lacking. Therefore, the referee's decision to give a yellow card for SPA was correct.

Wall Management

Imagine a freekick about 10 yards outside the penalty area. The attacking team may take a shot directly at the goal. Or they may pass to another player. AR is watching for offside. Referee is watching for possible fouls inside the penalty area. There are often 12-18 players in such a tight space in front of the goal. But when there is a wall, the FK may hit the wall. There is always a possibility that a player in the wall commits a handball offence.

If you set the wall by the penalty area line, it becomes very difficult for anyone to see if a handball offence was inside or outside the penalty area. Unless you are aligned perfectly to see where the offence happened, you, as the referee, will never know. Did the offence happen a few inches inside the penalty area? Was it on the line (considered inside)? Or was it just outside? This creates an added layer of difficulty.

To avoid the unnecessary confusion, many experienced referees would position a wall well inside or well outside the penalty area. This way, if there is handball, the location of the offence would be very clear. During the pregame pitch inspection, these referees would figure out where 10 yards from the top of the penalty area might be. Is there a tree that works as a marker? Is there an advertisement board? Having a marker allows the referee to know when an offence happened 10 yards outside the penalty area and to be smart about how to manage the restart.

Offside decisions

As ARs, we sometimes make over 20 onside/offside decisions per match. In order to make a correct decision, not only do we have to be aligned with the offside line but also we must be fully focused. When our focus level goes down even for a quarter of a second, it can lead to a mistake.

Furthermore, some offside decisions are match critical. There are times when our onside decision allows an obvious goal scoring opportunity to happen, or our offside decision denies an OGSO. When a player denies an OGSO, they are sent off (or cautions in some instances) because for soccer, such an offence is extremely serious. This is to say that when an assistant referee makes a mistake and allows an OGSO to happen or denied an OGSO, it is a major mistake.

Watch the video below. The attacker was onside by a yard. The attacker continues to take a shot on the goal in a 1 v 1 situation with the goal keeper. The AR flag, however, goes up erroneously. Stay focused and avoid these critical mistakes.