Question

Explain the term Advantage, with reference to the game of football.

Answer 1

It refers to a situation in which the referee calls "play on" despite a foul-because the team that would be given a free kick already has the advantage of a scoring or passing opportunity. Advantage is essentially letting play continue after a foul for which play would be stopped for a free kick but the team which was fouled is in a better position to score than if they had a free kick. It is usually given when a team that has been fouled retains possession in the attacking third of the field.

How Advantage works in Football

The advantage rule in football is considered unique. If a referee sees that there was an obvious foul played, it is up to him whether he should call it out or not. If he thinks that calling out a foul can affect the position of the team, he has the option not to call the foul.

An example of when an advantage works is a goalkeeper attempting to stop a player from the opposing team from taking the shot. However, before he can proceed to wipe out the opponent, the player was able to make a weak shot. But, after the collision, even if the goalkeeper proceeds to take out his opponent, the ball manages to go into the goal.

In this situation, a goalkeeper commits a foul before the other player scores a goal. the referee was to stop the play moments before the goalkeeper wiped out the striker, he would have negated the goal made by the opposing team. It means that if the referee made the call, the result would benefit the fouling team as the goal is not considered a score. However, if the foul committed involves serious foul play, the advantage rule is not applied.