Becoming a Soccer Referee

Becoming a Soccer Referee iii

Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................v
The 17 Laws .....................................................................................................................................2
The Field, Ball, and Players .............................................................................................................5
The Referees ....................................................................................................................................9
Fouling ...........................................................................................................................................13
Kicks and Throw-Ins......................................................................................................................17
Works Cited...25



Becoming a Soccer Referee v
Introduction

Soccer players already know the general rules. Dont use your hands unless you are the
goalkeeper in the goalie box. Do not attack other players. Although many soccer players know
the general rules of soccer, many do not know why it is that they get penalized for something
that may seem legal. There are little things that most players assume are safe to do, or in general
just play much too safe in order to not break the rules. If one knows the rules of the game, one
can utilize them to their advantage.

The 17 Laws



The 17 Laws 3
The 17 Laws
These are the 17 laws of soccer as authorized by the International Football Association Board.
Keep in mind that these laws are concrete and do not change for official games.
1. Field of play
2. The ball
3. Number of players
4. Player equipment
5. The referee
6. Assistant referees
7. Match Duration
8. Start and restart of play
9. Ball in/out of play
10. Scoring
11. Offsides
12. Fouling and Misconduct
13. Free kicks
14. Penalty kicks
15. Throw-ins
16. Goal kicks
17. Corner kicks



The Field, Ball, and Players




The Field, Ball, and Players 7

The Field
To meet the standard regulations, the field must be the proper measurements.
Touch line: ninety meters-one hundred meters
Goal line: forty five meters-ninety meters
An eight yard goal that is centered along the goal line
Six yards that come straight out from the goal post (that meets with the goal line) creates
the goal box


8 The Field, Ball, and Players
The Ball
Although the size of the ball seems
irrelevant, players who play
professionally all practice with a
universal ball size to ensure that
players of different backgrounds are
not at an advantage or disadvantage.
For children, it is good to start at a
smaller size, preferably a size three
or four ball. For a professional
player, or for an official game, the
ball size must be a size 5 ball.
The Players

Number of players
Before a game starts, the referee must count and make sure that
there are at least 11 potential players on each team.


If a team does not meet the required amount of players, that team
must forfeit the game.


The official names of the positions are shown in this diagram, but
knowing the position names is not necessary to play the game.

The Field, Ball, and Players 9


Player equipment
Players must also have the proper equipment. They must be wearing:
A jersey and shorts
Players will be required to wear a
jersey representing their team as well as
shorts.








Socks and shin guards
The socks must cover the shin guards, which means that the socks must
be long and elastic enough to do so.





Indoor/Outdoor soccer shoes
When playing indoor soccer, do not wear
cleats. Cleats tear up the artificial grass, and
the turf costly to replace. Indoor soccer
shoes work perfectly and are suited for the
field anyway.



When playing outdoor soccer, you must
wear cleats. It does not matter if the grass is
torn up, since the grass does grow back and
is easily replaceable. Any other footwear is
not allowed on the field of play.




The Referees


The Referee
You may like the referee or you may not. The referee is impartial. Either way, it does not
influence the decisions and calls made by the referee. Anything they say goes. As stated in the
rulebook, The referees word is the law.



The Referees 13

14 Kicks and Throw-Ins

The Assistant Referee
The assistant referees are the referees on the field holding flags. The direction their flag is
pointed is used to express different things. Most of the signals are universal, but some vary by
country.

A flag in the air indicates that a play needs to be stopped or that
the assistant needs to speak with the referee.




If the assistant referee holds their flag horizontally towards the
goalpost, they are signaling for a goal kick.




If the assistant referee holds their flag towards the corner flag,
they are signaling for a corner kick.




If the assistant referee holds the flag with both hands, it indicates
that a player substitution is being made. No plays are allowed to
be made during this time.




14 The Referees



Fouling



Fouling and Misconduct
Fouling and misconduct is a large part of the game. Due to flopping, (when a player pretends to
be hurt during a play) it makes it hard for a referee to make a call. To be safe, many referees will
just call a foul on the other player. By doing so, it avoids any sort of faulty call. Most players
take advantage of this. It is hard to watch a soccer match without flopping anymore. However,
the referee does not favor the flopper. A referee can deem that the play upon the flopper legal,
and allow the play to continue, making flopping somewhat risky for their team if one of the
players is busy laying on the ground rather than continue playing.
The arguably most popular flop is from the 1999 game between AGF and FC Copenhagen, when
a players ear was lightly flicked. The player proceeded to scream while holding his ear and
falling to the ground.
When a referee does call out an illegal play/act by one of the players, they will receive one of
three things.
1. The referee can issue a warning, usually for minor aggression.
2. The referee can issue a yellow card, which can be given for:
a. unsportsmanlike behavior.
b. dissent by word or action.
c. persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game.
d. delaying the start/restart of play.
e. failure to respect the required distance for a corner
kick, free kick, or throw-in.
f. entering or re-entering the field of play without the
referees permission.
g. deliberately leaving the field of play without the
referees permission.

3. The referee can issue a red card, which are given for
a. extreme foul play.
b. violence.
c. spitting at people.
d. denying the opposing team a goal or an obvious
goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling
the ball (not including the goalkeeper).
e. usage of offensive/abusive language and/or gestures.
f. an offence after receiving a second yellow card.

Fouling 17


Kicks and Throw-Ins


Kicks and Throw-Ins 21
Kicks and Throw-Ins
Free kicks
Direct free kick
o This free kick can be
shot into the opposing
teams goal.
Indirect free kick
o This free kick means
that the ball must make
contact with another
player before it can
enter the goal. In other
words, the player cannot
score the shot
themselves from the
indirect free kick.

Penalty kicks
These kicks are awarded when a
defending player fouls an attacking player or
commits a hand-ball when in the defending
teams penalty box.
The teams align themselves along
the edges of the penalty box and cannot
enter until the penalty kick is made.
The goalkeeper may move along the
goal line, but not forward until the penalty
shot is made.
Goal kicks
These kicks are awarded when the
attacking team knocks the ball out of
bounds on the defending teams goal
line.
A defender or the goalkeeper places
the ball anywhere in the goal box and
kicks the ball back into play.


22 Kicks and Throw-Ins

Corner kicks
These kicks are awarded when the
defending team knocks the ball out on
their goal line.
The attacking team places the ball
into the corner (the side where the ball
went out of bounds) and kicks the ball
into play.
Although it is difficult, it is legal to
score directly off of a corner kick.


Throw-Ins
The throw-in is awarded to the team that did not
touch the ball last when it goes out of bounds over the
touchline (the long sides of the field).
The throw must be a two-handed, overhead
throw while keeping both feet grounded.
Teams cannot directly score off of a throw-in

Kicks and Throw-Ins 23

Index
Assistant, 10
Ball, 7
Corner kicks, 11
Direct free kick, 10
equipment, 9
Field, 7
Foul, 9
Goal kicks, 10
Indirect free kick, 10
Penalty, 10
Players, 8
Referee, 9
The 17 Laws, 3
Throw-In, 11
Becoming a Soccer Referee
Kicks and Throw-Ins 25
Works Cited
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football_pitch
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http://www.tipkiller.com/images/illustr/corner-betting.jpg
http://www.canadakicks.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/penalty-kick.jpg
http://www.bet2winapp.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/free-kick-soccer.jpg
http://blogs.mtu.edu/iesl/files/2013/04/Mazen_6.jpg
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usajpg-52842e3fea74f9ec_large.jpg
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c_small.jpg
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http://www.dpaperwall.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/soccer-field-wallpaper-5.jpg
http://www.curatormagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/Flop.jpeg
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home-soccer-jersey-shirts-shorts-away-soccer-uniforms-Paris-St.jpg
http://assets.academy.com/mgen/07/10096207.jpg?is=500,500
http://www.veritasdefenderdads.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/soccer-penalty-kick1.bmp

Becoming a Soccer Referee