Two attackers against one defender and the keeper. Defender fouls the attacker with the ball, but the ball goes to the other attacker who has a clear shot at an open net. The ref blows the whistle for the foul, to which about 20 people scream "Advantage!". So the ref then signals advantage as the second attacker continues and puts the ball in the net. What's the proper restart here? [The ref chose to allow the goal and restart from the center circle, which is blatantly wrong. My thinking is that the ref has a choice between enforcing the foul for which he blew the whistle and calling it an inadvertant whistle. Is this correct?]
Once he blew the whistle for the foul, that is it, you can't "take it back". Proper restart would be a DFK (assuming penal foul) at the spot of the foul. It wasn't an "inadvertant" whistle because he was calling a foul. Best he can do is appologize for the premature whistle and learn from it. Of course someone needs to tell him that what he did end up doing was wrong on so many levels so he won't do it again in the future.
play on after whistle...? I have always thought that once I blew the whistle, it was too late to play advantage. However, I was watching an EPL game on TV about a week ago, and thought I saw (and heard) the ref blow for a foul, and when the attacking team did not immediately stop play, and seemed to have an advantage situation, the ref almost instantaneously gave the advantage signal with much emphasis, and play went on. I wondered whether the whistle was from the crowd, but couldn't be sure. There was no special mention of this sequence from the commentators. The play seemed to be a hybrid of advantage and a quick restart, without the stoppage. Has anyone actually seen something similar? I would be reluctant to do something like this, because I want players to stop when I blow the whistle, and to then call advantage would actually disadvantage the defense if they had let up their guard.
Re: play on after whistle...? "Let up their guard"? The defense stops. Play to the whistle is what they're taught and once it blows, play is dead. Ever notice how attacking players who shoot on goal after a whistle get yellow cards?
Re: play on after whistle...? i didn't see the play you're referring to, but the whistle must have been from the crowd, and if anything the referee's signal was a way of confirming to the players that it wasn't his whistle. i know it's not exactly by the book, but when i'm handling a game with a nearby field, i will often shout "keep playing" or "play on" or something like that if i hear another whistle and i think there is any chance that the players might think that i have called something. as for this play, the ref (having blown the whistle) should suck it up and award the free kick that he intended to award. the ref has the "option" of changing his call and saying that it was an "inadvertent" whistle, but that would then result in a drop ball, and only further disadvantage the team on offense in this situation.
I never understood why they don't ban whistles from stadiums at sporting events. It'd be difficult to enforce, sure, but one toot and security tossing the guy would make a point.
They seem to enforce it pretty well in MLS. Three years as a season ticket holder and I've never once heard a whistle from the crowd.
In a youth game, I once called a foul and blew the whistle. Just after I sounded the whistle, the crowd and the coaches and the other players pointed to a player who seemed to have a good advantage in the situation and probably should have gotten an advantage call. I looked at the player, shook my head and walked to where I could talk with both coaches. I acknowledged my mistake and told them that I would have to enforce the call that I had made. I also told them that I would try to not let this happen again. It hasn't. The game went on without further incident, and both coaches appreciated my honesty in admitting what had happened.
I did something similar in a 6v6 tournament. The rule of the tournament was that goal kicks and punts were not allowed to cross midfield on the fly. The goalkeeper for one team trapped the ball with his feet and blasted a ball across midfield. I mistakenly blew the whistle and awarded an IFK to the opponent. The coach yelled a bit about it, and I calmly said "I'll explain it at halftime." When halftime came, I calmly walked up to the coach, and when he asked me again why I had blown the whistle, I simply stated "I screwed up." He let the issue drop immediately.