Now You Know Soccer. Doug Lennox
João Havelange, Brazil — 1974–98
• Joseph S. Blatter, Switzerland — 1998–present
What is IFAB?
IFAB is an acronym for the International Football Association Board. Established in England in 1886, the board was originally made up of the United Kingdom’s four pioneering football associations: England’s Football Association (The FA), the Scottish Football Association (SFA), the Football Association of Wales (FAW), and Northern Ireland’s Irish Football Association (IFA). Its aim was to create a unified set of rules for the game in Great Britain and function as a governing body. Each of the four founding FAs had equal voting rights on the board. Beginning in 1913, voting rights on the board. Beginning in 1913, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), which governs world association soccer, became a voting board member. Today, each UK association has one vote on the board and FIFA has four. IFAB deliberations must be approved by at least six votes. Thus, FIFA’s approval is necessary for any IFAB decision, but FIFA alone cannot change the Laws of the Game; they need to be agreed by at least two of the UK members.
Quickies
Did you know …
• FIFA has 208 football association members?
How many referees are there in a regulation soccer match?
There are three. One referee (sometimes called the centre referee), and two assistant referees (formerly called linesmen) who patrol the perimeter of the field and carry flags to signal to the referee. The referee, who is the only one of the three who conducts his duties in bounds on the pitch, is the ruling authority for any given soccer match. His word is law on the pitch.
What is the technical area?
The technical area is a marked-off zone at pitch-side where a team manager, other coaching personnel, and player substitutes are required to confine themselves during matches. According to the Laws of the Game, the technical area is marked by a white line, “1 metre (1 yard) on either side of the designated seated area and extend[ing] forward up to a distance of 1 metre (1 yard) from the touch line.” Substitutes are allowed to leave the technical area to warm up prior to entering a match. Managers and coaching staff may not cross the line during play, except in special cases, such as medical personnel attending to an injured player. The technical area falls under the supervision of the fourth official.
What is the fourth official?
The fourth official is essentially a support person to the referee who can, when needed, step in as a backup assistant referee when one of the designated assistants cannot perform his duties. The fourth official assists with administrative duties surrounding the match. Stationed pitch-side, he is responsible for assisting with substitution procedures during the match. He has the authority to check the equipment of substitutes before they enter the field of play. He supervises the replacement of game balls. He must indicate to the referee when the wrong player is cautioned because of mistaken identity or when a player is not sent off after having been shown two yellow cards or when violent conduct occurs out of the view of the referee and assistant referees. After the match, the fourth official must submit a report to the appropriate authorities on any misconduct or other incident that occurred out of the view of the referee and the assistant referees. He also has the authority to inform the referee of irresponsible behaviour by anyone in the technical area.
The Five Duties of the Assistant Referees (subject to the decision of the referee)
• Indicate when the whole of the ball has passed out of the field of play.
• Indicate which side is entitled to a corner kick, goal kick or throw-in.
• Indicate when a player may be penalized for being in an offside position.
• Indicate when a substitution is requested.
• Indicate when misconduct or any other incident has occurred out of the view of the referee.
Who was Ken Aston?
The red and yellow card system was invented by English referee Ken Aston, whose innovation was inspired one day in the late 1960s by the yellow “caution” and red “stop” lights in the streets of London. Aston sat on FIFA’s Referee’s Committee from 1970 to 1972. His card system was first used at the 1970 World Cup. Aston died on October 23, 2001 at the age of 86.
What does a yellow card mean?
The yellow card is a caution issued to a player by the referee. The yellow card may be shown to a player who is guilty of unsporting behaviour, shows dissent by word or action, persistently infringes the Laws of the Game, delays the restart of play, fails to respect the required distance when play is restarted with a corner kick or a free kick, enters or re-enters the field of play without the referee’s permission, or deliberately leaves the field of play without the referee’s permission. Any time a yellow or red card is shown, a “direct” or “indirect kick” will also be awarded.
What does a red card mean?
When a player is shown a red card it means ejection from the game. By the Laws of the Game, a player must be shown a red card for serious foul play, violent conduct, spitting at an opponent or any other person, deliberately handling the ball in an attempt to prevent an obvious scoring opportunity, denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving toward the player’s goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick, and for using offensive, insulting, or abusive language. A player will also be shown a red card and ejected immediately after receiving a second yellow card caution in the same match.
What’s the difference between yellow and red card offenses?
Yellow card offenses generally cover acts that demonstrate poor sportsmanship and disrupt the game, but don’t directly affect the score or cause injury. For example, a player might receive a yellow card for a succession of “ordinary” fouls, despite a warning from the referee. This is called “persistent infringement.” Players will also be shown a yellow card for “unsporting behaviour,” which covers almost any action that shows disregard for fair play but is not extremely violent. Red card offenses are much more serious acts that go completely against the spirit of the game (called “serious foul play” in game parlance). This is behaviour that should never occur on a soccer field regardless of how a game is going.
Quickies
Did you know …
• the Laws of the Game state that a match may not start if either team consists of fewer than seven players, including the goalkeeper?
What does it mean when the referee holds his arms straight out?
Quickies
Did you know …
• if an assistant referee signals a goal that the referee did not see, and if for any reason play stops and is then restarted before the referee notices this signal, the goal can’t be awarded?
This is called “advantage” and it means that the referee has seen a foul but has decided not to call it yet because the fouled team is in an advantageous position and might possibly score. Advantage generally only lasts three to five seconds before the referee will blow his whistle and stop play.
What does it mean when the referee blows his whistle and points at a goal?
The referee has seen a foul and is awarding a direct free kick against the goal he is pointing to.
Why does the referee sometime hold his arm straight up in the air during a free kick?
When a free kick is awarded, according to the Laws of the Game the only signal