By Kevin Kernen
In the last edition of Extol Sports, we covered the
first 4 of the 17 rules of the game of soccer. In
this month’s issue, we continue.
Rule 5: The Referee
In any professional or international match in the world,
there will be a minimum of 4 referees on hand. They are
responsible for enforcing the laws of the game and act as
a team of their own, comprising of a Center Referee (the
main official with the whistle on the pitch), two Assistant
Referees (the ones running up and down half a sideline
with the flag, also called an “AR”), and the Fourth Official
(the referee on the sideline). The Center Referee bears
the responsibility of deciding if a pitch is game-worthy,
enforcing the laws of the game during a match, keeping
official time, taking disciplinary action against players,
as well as supervising most other procedures during a
match. To keep spectators abreast of Referees’ decisions,
they employ a series of hand signals (not to worry, their
meanings will become clear later on):
Rule 6: Other Officials
As mentioned previously, there are a minimum of 3 officials
apart from the Center Referee involved in any professional
match. Each of the Assistant Referees is in charge of a half
of the pitch, running up and down opposite sides, from one
goal line to the midfield line. The ARs’ job is to help the
Center Referee in making decisions, as well as identifying
incidents of offside, a somewhat nebulous rule that is a law
unto itself. Between the Center Referee and both of the ARs,
almost all of the 22 players are under constant supervision,
but a Fourth Official also serves to catch offenses away
from the ball, or to lend a different perspective to an offense
in question.
Usually a junior referee or a well-seasoned official, the
Fourth Official also deputizes as a Center- or Assistant-
Referee should they become injured or otherwise unable
to continue during a match. Beyond keeping an extra set of
eyeballs on play, the Fourth Official also serves as a verbal
abuse whipping boy for disgruntled managers in their
technical area, as well as conducting substitutions and
keeping track of added time. All referees are in constant
communication during play, and usually employ a radio
system to talk to one another during a match.
Rule 7: Duration of the Match
Universally, matches consist of two halves of 45
minutes. Regular season games can end in a tie
after 90 minutes, but in knockout competitions,
like the US Open Cup and the USL Playoffs a winner
must be decided. Overtime (called “Extra Time”
in soccer) consists of two 15 minute halves. If the
game is still tied, the game goes to Penalties, lined
out in Rules 10 and 14. Since the clock never stops
running in soccer, time is added at the end of each
half for stoppages for substitutions, time wasting
(a gamesmanship tactic), disciplinary sanctions or
other major stoppages.
Rule 8: Start and Restart of Play
Halves are commenced by a kick off from the center
spot of the match, and restarts after goals are taken
from the center spot as well, taken by the team that
just conceded.
Rule 9: The Ball in and Out of Play
In Soccer, the lines on the field are considered in
bounds for the area they demarcate. The ball has
to completely pass over the line to be out, either
on the ground or in the air, a decision chiefly made
by the ARs.
Rule 10: Determining the Outcome of the Match
Goals are awarded by the Center Referee after
the ball passes completely over the goal line, as
illustrated when the ref points to the center of
the pitch.
Regular season matches in any league are over
after 90 minutes, whether there is a winner or not.
For knockout games, the team with the most goals
at the end of Regulation or Extra Time wins, but if
the game is tied after 120 minutes, Penalties must
decide the game. Teams alternate shots from the
Penalty Mark (the spot 12 yards from the goal)
unless the competition has specified otherwise
(some competitions employ the A-B-B-A order
to negate any advantage that could be had by the
alternating nature of shots) and the best of five
shots, wins. Should the teams remain tied after five
shots, it goes to a round by round “sudden death”
format. The pressure is on the penalty taker to
convert the shot, as they require great anticipation
and a healthy dose of luck to save, and shootouts
rarely go beyond the first five rounds of shots.
Rule 11: Offside
Probably the single most difficult decision in the
game, offside offenses are almost exclusively
identified by an Assistant Referee. The rule was
installed to keep players in check and not “cherry
pick” in front of opponents goals, and has evolved to
both a lightning rod for video replay advocates and
excuse for beleaguered managers. In the simplest
terms, any attacking player between the second-tolast
defender and the goal is in an offside position.
For an advanced attacking player to legally receive
the ball, they must be either:
A. I n their own defensive half, or
B . E ither in front of, or in line with the secondto-
last member of the defending team at the
moment the ball is played
Essentially, a player cannot be passed the ball if
they are between last defender of the defending
team and the goal, BUT they can be level with the
second-to-last defender.
Additionally, if an attacking player is in an offside
position and doesn’t interfere with play and a
goal is scored, no rule has been infringed upon.
If an attacking player is in an offside position and
interferes with play (like screening the goalkeeper,
for instance), then they are offside, and the goal is
disallowed.
The signal for offside is given by the Assistant
Referee when they hold their flag straight up in
the air to alert the Center Referee, then holding
it in front of them. To restart play after an offside
offense, the referee awards an indirect free kick to
the defending team (that’s to come).
Rule 12: Fouls and Misconduct
The following is a list of fouls in the game. They are
interpreted differently by different referees, and
also their enforcement changes significantly from
league to league and country to country. England
has a history of a physical game, where the Spanish
appreciate more style over substance. As the law
goes, a Free Kick is awarded if an opponent commits
any of the following offenses:
A. Charges (running shoulder to shoulder in an
aggressive manner)
B . jumps at
C. kicks or attempts to kick
D . P ushes
E . strikes or attempts to strike
(including head-butt)
F. tackles or challenges
G . trips or attempts to trip
H. handles the ball deliberately (except for the
goalkeeper within their penalty area)
I . holds an opponent
J . impedes an opponent with contact
K . spits at an opponent
If you stand with a supporter during a match and
you see a referee whistle after a slide tackle, you
will hear some version of the refrain “they got the
ball!” While slide tackles and challenges are part of
the game, they must be going for the ball- not the
player. It is erroneously assumed that if a player
gets the ball, they have carte Blanche to take out the
player as well. This is simply not the case, as many
considerations are taken into account by the referee
around judging challenges, with speed, position,
where the challenging player made contact with the
player in possession, among other things.
In addition to awarding a Free Kick, a referee can
award a yellow card (a caution) for a foul judged
to be reckless in nature, and a red card (a sending
off) for fouls judged to be dangerous or employing
excessive use of force. Should a player earn two
yellows, they will then be shown a red after their
second yellow card offense. If a player is sent off,
they cannot be replaced and their team has to play
down a player for the duration of the match.
Cards will also be issued in the case of what are
informally referred to as “professional fouls,” or
fouls that deliberately break up an attacking team’s
forward play if the defending team are caught out
of position or undermanned. If there is a covering
player between a defender, an attacker, and the
goal, a foul only warrants a yellow card. If the fouling
defender is the last man before the goalie, however,
expect a straight red card to be shown.
As with Offside offenses, handling situations often
find themselves being a point of contention, as
it’s largely a judgement call from the Referee. It’s
a matter of identifying whether the ball is moving
toward the hand or arm, or if the player moves their
hand or arm to intercept the path of the ball, while
taking into account whether the player’s hand was
in a “natural position.” Depending on the situation, a
player may find themselves sent off for deliberately
handling the ball.
There are other procedural fouls, like time wasting
and illegal substitutions, which can also be awarded
with a yellow card.
Rule 13: Free Kicks
For all infringements listed in the law previous, a
Direct Free Kick is awarded, meaning that the ball
can directly be scored from the Free Kick. There are
also Indirect Free Kicks, meaning that the ball must
touch another player before it can be scored.
Indirect Free Kicks are awarded after an Offside
offense and for Playing in a Dangerous Manner,
which includes preventing nearby players from
playing the ball. An example of this is a “high kick,”
which is not an inherently illegal action, but becomes
illegal when it either causes a player to react to the
kick (an Indirect Free Kick) or if it makes contact
with an opponent (a Direct Free Kick).
Rule 14: The Penalty Kick
Penalties are taken from the penalty mark, which
is 12 yards from the center of the goal. During play,
they’re awarded for Direct Free Kick fouls within
the Penalty Area. We’ve already covered this pretty
comprehensively, but another detail is that during a
penalty kick, the goalkeeper must stay on the goal
line, and for penalties taken during regulation and
extra time, players can enter the box as soon as the
kick taker touches the ball.
Rule 15: The Throw-In
For restarting play after the ball goes out over a
sideline, the team opposite of the one that played it
out is awarded a throw-in. For the player throwing
the ball in, they must
A. K eep both feet on the ground outside
the touchline
B . T hrow the ball in with both hands, starting
behind the head
Players cannot be offside if they receive the ball
directly from a Throw-In, Goal Kick, or a Corner Kick.
Rule 16: The Goal Kick
For restarting play after an attacking team played
the ball over a defending team’s endline, the
goalkeeper plays it outside of the penalty area (18
yard box) from any point within their goal area (6
yard box)
Rule 17: The Corner Kick
After the defending team plays the ball over their
own endline, the attacking team is awarded a corner
kick, taken from the corner closest to the point
where the ball exited play. Although a goal can be
scored from a corner(called an “Olympico”), it’s
exceedingly rare and quite difficult.
That is the streamlined version of the rules of soccer,
as detailed by the International Football Association
Board. Rules and their interpretations are quite
nuanced and are tweaked from year to year, and
although the rules themselves do not change that
much, they will come under more scrutiny as the tide
of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) sweeps through the
world’s game in the very imminent future.