Ken Aston MBE

Playing advantage
The referee allows play
to continue when a team
against which an offence
has been committed will
benefit from such an
advantage and penalises
the original offence if the
anticipated advantage does
not ensue at that time.
Law 5 – The Referee
Playing
Advantage
Ian Blanchard, FA Senior National Game Referee Manager, examines the
important considerations that need to be taken into account when playing
the rule of advantage.
The dictionary definition of advantage is “a condition or
circumstance that puts one in a favourable position.”
Put into a refereeing context, the idea of playing advantage is reliant
upon the recognition of the specific circumstances surrounding each
offence from which a decision can be made to allow play to continue
or for it to be stopped.
All advantage decisions are at the referee’s discretion based on his/
her judgment as to the specific circumstances, and indeed if a team
has possession of the ball it does not always constitute an advantage.
Most of the time, an advantage decision cannot be second-guessed
because to do so would require knowing what would have happened
if play was stopped.
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