Assist and not Insist

although you don't say it, i'm assuming that you are the AR in this scenario. as for this obvious handball, you provide a long list of persons who clearly saw it. did the referee? i ask this question first, because this one makes it easy. your job is to assist. you ask "do you call it"? guess what, you can't "call" anything. all you can do is raise the flag. the ref "calls" it. so, if you know the ref has seen it, and elected for whatever reason not to call it, don't raise your flag. the ref won't change his mind, and it will only cause problems. your job as the AR is to support.

the question is tougher if you don't believe the ref saw the foul. i might, in such a case, raise my flag notwithstanding his pre-game instruction. if questioned afterwards, i would explain that i understood the ref wanted to avoid being put in a difficult situation, but that i didn't believe he had seen what occurred, that if he did see it differently he would wave me off, and that i couldn't imagine in fulfilling his duties that he was refusing to award deserved penalties. (of course, it goes without saying that i'm a little on the difficult side).

all this said, i would (as an AR) find the direction insulting, and i would never give such an instruction to an official AR (as opposed to the frequent rec situation where the AR is a parent and shouldn't be calling anything other than out of bounds). it would be appropriate to address the issue with the ref before the game to understand the reasoning for being told not to perform all of my AR responsibilities. and, personally, while i would complete this game, i would make sure i wasn't assigned to work with this ref from this point onward.

i'm curious to see what others say on this one.

 

I run into this I'll call it in the "box" penalty area attitude with older and lower level referees. It's stupid and contradicts the intent of refereeing which is to get the call right.

 

Some of the confusion arises because when the middle in his pre-game says "Give me the first shot for anything in the penalty area", he is not saying "Don't make the call" but rather "Delay your flag and only raise it if it is clear to you tht I missed the offense, and you believe that if I did see it I would call it, otherwise assume that I did see it and chose not to call it."

When you break this down, you will see that this is actually a very difficult instruction. It means that there must often be some communication and eye contact between the CR and AR during play and not just each acting independently. So, the CR is asking for greater AR involvment, not less. This also prevents confusing signals which make the crew look silly, so even if it is difficult, it is important to master.

You do, however, run into people, as Alberto has suggested, and typically those old characters (what we in MA call "town refs" who do only singles and don't know how to use assistants), who mean to say "stay out of it entirely". Usually this means that they are not comfortable with the DSC, don't now how to use it, insecure about their own abilities, and afraid to be shown up by their assistants.

I have had some success, though not always, in bringing these "old town refs" into DSC and higher levels of competition. If they, in their pre-game, tell me not to call anything in the "box", I will ask them to carify, and then suggest that this might best be expressed as "first shot" and let's try it and they will get a better idea of how to work together as a crew.

The big hurdle is their mechanics. You need to coach your centers to make use of the diagonal and points of transition so they can keep the AR's in their field of view. This is something I often discuss at halftime. When I am not at a game, and I get reports from other members of the crew, I do a lot of this on Monday mornings.

What most referees discover is that working together as a team is not only a lot easier, but it is a lot more fun. You can really kick back and enjoy yourself out there. irrespective of whether you are in the center or on the line.

 

Pregame

My pregame includes a fairly extensive discussion of how I like to handle fouls anywhere on the field. I like to have the ARs concentrate on the areas of the field I can't see. My instruction is to only call fouls when they are sure I cannot see them. If there is doubt (not about the foul but about my ability to see the foul), keep the flag down. This does require more coordination but the result is more satisfactory.

 

Re: Re: Pregame

Did I deserve the snide remark? Perhaps it's the inconsistency in my area but it works better for me this way. We don't often work as teams. I'm often paired with ARs of varying abilities and experience. Foul recognition varies greatly. Some don't even have the concept of APO down very well (yes, I use the signals). For these reasons I choose to use these pregame instructions. What I don't want is a situation where the AR gives a waggle, I blow the whistle and conference and disagree (happened too many times, and I saw the play well). Now the restart can be problematic, not because I don't know the proper restart but that the players, coaches and fans can be confused and it doesn't build confidence in the referees.

 

I believe that FIFA recently changed the language from "fouls not in the view of the referee" to "fouls that the assistant sees more clearly then the referee"

I like this description more BUT you have to hope that the AR is being CONSISTANT with what you called. I usually say to ARs I havent worked with before....."take a few minutes to see how I am calling the game and try to stay consistant with me"
I also tell ARs that "even if you think I saw yellow or red card fouls to flag them anyway"
I have been screened from the play in some very surprising places and missing a big call is more important than blowing a small one.

 

AR miss comunication

I totally agree if the ARs are to be brought into the game they need to act as would the CR as if he saw it. However in training the ARs to be assit mode but assertive improper proceedures or poor communication skills in the developement stage can cause issues to arise.

The problem lies in the reasoning and the mechanics of the referee and the ARs. What age level were the referee and ARs? I ask this as inexperiance or age can play a factor. What you describe happens often when the AR and CR are not well aquainted with proceedures or confident in their abilities. I have been involved with similar situations when young ARs are hesitant or reluctant to raise flags and keep them up or easily intimidated by those on the touchline.

As CR you are not always able to see everything and unfortunately the AR does not always communicate properly or in time to make the CR aware of a infringement. While it might grind your teeth at the way it was handled if there was an actual infringement an offside, a PK or perhaps the ball was kicked from the keeper's grasp and the CR was too quick to award the goal or the AR was not doing a good job communicating something was afoot.


While CR at a provincial tournament I was told after the fact a goal was scored that I saw as ok by my young 16 year old AR that the keeper had posession and the attacker had kicked him and caused him to release the ball. I did not see the kick and the AR knowing I was experianced and reasonably close was scared to say anything. When I looked over and did my palm up is everything ok gesture he did not signal anything was wrong nor was a flag up but appeared too be in distress just by his body language. It was apparent something was bothering him so I went over and asked "Everything ok? He said quietly I think that was not a good goal? What did you see? Why did you not signal me that there was something wrong? This was gone over in pre game He said "I had to think about it!" The fact was I was left at angle looking in from the top of the penalty area and he was right looking directly across He saw the attacker kick the keeper on the arm which was resting on the ball. I had a defender in the process of falling on top of the keeper in my line of sight so I was screened from that kick. I assumed the defender falling on top of the keeper caused the ball to pop free. Not that it matters but a tournament official confirmed looking in from the corner he saw exactly the same thing as my AR. Now the fact there was no clear signal and the keeper was hurt recieving treatment, trust me the coach of the team that was dancing moments earlier was not doing so now in fact he recieved a verbal warning to relax or he would be asked to leave the FOP. He felt we were influenced by the other coach and reversed the decision to award a goal as there was no signal by the AR in a raised flag. The fact was our handling of the situation gave credance to his thoughts. The fact they were totally not true is not the point. Having the other coach agreeing we were correct did nothing to lesson the tension I can assure you.

Yes I took back the goal and we restarted with a DFK at where the infringement took place. The coach spent the rest of the time worrying about that call and it affected the entire game. The fact was my AR saw it 100% though worried that people were going to yell and be upset he was adamant the goal was unfairly scored. He was correct just needed a bit more backbone, which he developed, to be signaling such things quicker.

The plain fact is a referee must do what is ultimately correct in law. The poor mechanics of how the information or situation is handled does not alter the basis of LAW 5 which is ITOOTR or the need to get it right.

One thing that is most important what the AR signals or does not signal is not meant to tell anyone anyone anything it is communication between the AR and the referee. THis problem has only the distinction of complicating a referee's player and game management options due to the unrest and dissent. The proverbial rod for the back. They are fashioned in the depth of experiance and mistakes

 

Re: Re: Re: Pregame

Though I would say the moderator was probably a little hasty in his remark, and it was probably undeserved, both your initial post, as well as yor reply, above, illustrates part of the problem we face in the area of local referee development. It is not your fault, and I am not picking on you, specifically, because this is the case all over the US. (Or maybe it is your fault, but not to worry, there is an answer.)

The problem is that once you get your badge, all the rest of the training you will recived is bascially on-the-job. Yes, you have the required in-service for your recert, and if you are upgrading there might be a clinic, but for the bulk of those who officate at the recreational and youth level, you are on your own.

Wtih the explosion in number of participants, and the chronic shortage of licensed officials, this is the way it has been for some time. Mastering the finer points of the DSC was out of the question when we could barely cover every game we had with just one official, much less three.

Now have less of a shortage in most of the country, as well as a pretty solid base of referees with at least three years of experinece and over 100 games, we should be able to start making progress at local referee development, and specifically the mastry of the DSC.

So, if you have certified referees as assistants, irresepctive of their level of experinece, you instruction for them to "...only call fouls when they are sure I cannot see them. If there is doubt (not about the foul but about my ability to see the foul), keep the flag down. " is really not helping the crew develop its skills.

A better instruction would be to tell your assistants that they should give you the first crack at the foul, and if you don't immediately call it, and, after waiting they think it had effect on play, to stick it up straight in the hand indicating the direction of restart. make eye-contact with you, and you will either recongnize it by stoppig play, you will signal adavatage play on. or you will tell them ot eat it, by fgiving your wave down signal.

Hopefully you have an enlightened assingor who sends you out with a crew so each referee does one middle and two lines. This way everyone shares their experineces and techniques. Additionally, it is good practices at the rec level to assemble your crew with a senior oiffical and novice officals with a special emphasis to the senior offical to mentor and guide the novices on various aspects of officating from their uniform, how they signal, selling calls, whistle techniques, foul recognition.

Any adult or senior official who thinks that it is beneath them to run lines for a 15 year old doing a middle for a g11 division W match, simply does not work for me. Every referee who I assign is there to do their fair share and help theri fellow referees improve. Interestingly enough, it goes both ways, since all of us can benefit from the help we get from our peers.

 

Development occurs either way

By asking my ARs to only flag fouls they are sure I did not see causes them to be sure about the foul and about my position. This requires the AR to keep track of the play and me. If I am in correct position it should not be hard for him to keep me in sight. Here is a quote from Jim Allen regarding a question about the ARs responsibility.

"USSF answer (October 24, 2002):
The first rule of the assistant referee (AR) is to assist, not insist.

If the referee is about to carry out a decision that may be based on erroneous data, it is the duty of the AR to ASSIST the referee by bringing that fact to the referee's attention. However, before doing so, the AR must be absolutely certain that the referee did not or could not have a clear view of the entire situation. The referee must then confer with the AR to confirm the nature of the infringement (keeps field in view while moving to touch line and while conferring). Once the AR has given the pertinent information to the referee, the AR has done his or her duty and CANNOT INSIST that the referee decide in a certain way. The referee makes the final decision."

Note his instruction that the AR must be absolutely certain that the referee did not or could not have a clear view of the play. This is the essence of my pregame instruction to my ARs.

For the complete question and answer go to: http://www.drix.net/jim/
It's the third question down.

When the referee blows his whistle (as in the question) it is much easier for the AR to give the prearranged signal and confer with the CR without alot of questions from the players, coaches and fans. The other side of the coin is where the referee does not blow his whistle but the AR raises his flag. This is more problematic because the CR has to either signal the AR to lower his flag or blow his whistle. In this situation the players, coaches and fans have some fodder. Don't take me wrong. I'm not asking my ARs to not call fouls but I want to be confident of their foul recognition and that it was something I couldn't see. Certainly, if there is an obvious foul that I should have seen, but didn't whistle, (sometimes the brain insists on a vacation) I would hope the AR would ignore my instructions and raise the flag! Not only CRs need courage!