What is being questioned about the other match officials?
Every question in this scenario
The Match officials investigation scenario asks 5 questions and can reach 17 decisions. A walk answers only the ones its own answers lead to. This is the whole set, for reference and for revision.
1What is being questioned about the other match officials?
Law 6 says what each official may indicate rather than what each of them may decide.
Answers: An assistant referee's flag · The fourth official, the board, or the technical area · An additional assistant referee behind the goal · An official could not start or could not continue · The referee overruled an official, or sent one away · The video match officials, and what the AVAR does
2What was the flag for?
Everything on the list is an indication to the referee rather than a decision, which makes an overruled flag a normal event.
Answers: The ball leaving the field, and which team gets the restart · Offside · A substitution being requested · The goalkeeper at a penalty kick · The assistant referee stepping onto the field · A foul or misconduct, and why the flag went up or not
3What is being questioned about the assistant referee and the foul?
The assistant flags a foul in their immediate vicinity or out of the referee's vision, and otherwise waits.
Answers: The assistant saw it and the flag stayed down · The flag went up, and what it was telling the referee · The foul was inside the penalty area, or right on its edge
4Which part of the fourth official's job is in question?
The list is administrative rather than judgemental: the touchline and the technical area rather than decisions about play.
Answers: The board, and the minimum additional time on it · Substitutions, equipment, and a player coming back on · The replacement balls · Behaviour in the technical area
5Was the official removed from their duties, rather than simply overruled on a decision?
Overruling an indication happens several times a match. Relieving an official of their duties is reserved and carries a report.
Answers: Yes · No
Every decision it can reach
Each one is where a walk ends, with the reasoning it prints. The clause behind a decision is cited on the decision itself, which you reach by walking to it.
The flag says the ball is out and whose restart it is
The assistant referees indicate when the whole of the ball leaves the field of play and which team is entitled to the corner kick, goal kick or throw-in. Both halves are one indication, so a raised flag pointing one way is answering two questions at once.
The flag says a player in an offside position may be penalised
The wording is that the assistant referee indicates when a player in an offside position may be penalised, which is the whole reason a flag can go up and the offence still not be given. Whether it is penalised is the referee's, and Law 11 decides it. The guidelines add how long the flag stays there, which is the other thing people ask: the assistant raises it first and then, if the referee stops play, uses it to indicate the area of the field where the offence happened, and if the referee does not see it, the signal is maintained until it has been acknowledged or the ball is clearly in the control of the defending team.
The flag says a substitution has been requested
The assistant referees indicate when a substitution is requested, and their assistance also includes monitoring the substitution procedure itself. The fourth official supervises that procedure where one is appointed, and the guidelines say what happens when one is not: the assistant moves to the halfway line to assist with it, and the referee must wait until the assistant is back in position before restarting play. Where there is a fourth official the assistant stays put, with one exception, several substitutions at the same time, when the assistant moves up to help.
At a penalty kick the assistant referee watches the goal line
At penalty kicks the assistant referees indicate whether the goalkeeper moves off the goal line before the ball is kicked, and whether the ball crosses the line, and the default position for it is the intersection of the goal line and the penalty area. Two things move the assistant off that spot, and Law 6 prints one of them: where additional assistant referees are appointed the assistant referee takes a position in line with the penalty mark, because the additional assistant referee has the goal line. The guidelines print the other, and they are also where the shorthand comes from: where the goal line can be checked by technology such as goal line technology or the VAR system, it is recommended that the assistant referee stand on the touchline in line with the penalty mark, which the guidelines note is the offside line, since standing on the goal line risks not getting back to judge offside if the kick rebounds.
The assistant referee may come onto the field for the 9.15 m
The assistant referee may enter the field of play to help control the 9.15 m (10 yards) distance. It is the one entry Law 6 gives them in their own words, and it needs no permission from the referee in the clause. The guidelines describe the same entry for a free kick awarded very close to the assistant, usually at the referee's request, and attach the thing that is visible from the stand: the referee must wait until the assistant is back in position before restarting play. So the delay to the kick is part of the procedure rather than a hold-up.
Two conditions have to be met before the flag goes up, and advantage is one of them
The assistant referee raises the flag for a foul or misconduct committed in their immediate vicinity or out of the referee's vision. In all other situations they wait, and offer an opinion if it is required. The guidelines then require the assistant to determine two things before signalling for an offence: that the offence was out of the referee's view or that the view was obstructed, and that the referee would not have applied the advantage. Reading that as the gate on every flag is Ruleside's join of two paragraphs printed side by side, because taken literally the first sentence lets the flag go up for a foul in the assistant's immediate vicinity that the referee saw perfectly well, and the second does not. That second condition is the wait and see technique, which exists so that play continues where the team offended against will benefit, and it is why the guidelines make eye contact with the referee so important. So an assistant who saw the foul clearly and kept the flag down may be following the instruction rather than missing it.
The hand on the flag says which team gets the kick
The guidelines print three things the assistant must do when an offence needs a signal: raise the flag with the same hand that will be used for the rest of the signal, which gives the referee a clear indication of who will be awarded the free kick, make eye contact with the referee, and give the flag a slight wave back and forth without excessive or aggressive movement. Only the first of those tells a watching spectator anything, and it is the answer to what the flag meant before the referee has pointed: the hand it is held in is the direction.
The assistant moves along the touchline, and the direction is the answer
For a foul by a defender inside the penalty area out of the referee's vision, the assistant first makes eye contact to see where the referee is and what has been done, and if the referee has taken no action, signals with the flag, uses the electronic beep and then visibly moves down the touchline towards the corner flag. For a foul by a defender just outside the area, the assistant again makes eye contact and flags if necessary, and makes a clear movement along the touchline towards the halfway line to show the offence was outside. The two runs go opposite ways, so on a penalty-or-not appeal the assistant has usually said which one it is with their feet before anything is announced. Read it only in that context, because each run means something else elsewhere. The same run towards the corner flag is what the assistant does for a direct shot on goal at a free kick, where it is about following the ball. And the run towards the halfway line is the goal signal: 25 to 30 metres along the touchline after eye contact with the referee, with no flag where the goal is not in doubt and the flag raised first where the ball appears still to be in play. On a counter-attack the guidelines expect the assistant to be able to say whether a foul was committed, whether it was inside or outside the penalty area, and what disciplinary action should be taken.
The board shows the referee's minimum, and the fourth official holds it up
The fourth official indicates the minimum amount of additional time the referee intends to play at the end of each half, including extra time. Two things follow from the clause's own words: the amount is the referee's and not the fourth official's, and it is a floor rather than a figure, so play running past it is the Law working rather than an error.
Substitutions, equipment and re-entry are the fourth official's to supervise
The fourth official's assistance includes supervising the substitution procedure, checking a player's or substitute's equipment, and the re-entry of a player following a signal or approval from the referee. The approval stays the referee's in each case; what the fourth official does is run the procedure around it.
The replacement balls are supervised by the fourth official
Supervising the replacement balls is on the fourth official's list. Law 2 says additional balls which meet its requirements may be placed around the field of play and that their use is under the referee's control, so the supervision here is of the arrangement rather than of whether a ball may be used.
The fourth official reports irresponsible behaviour, the referee sanctions it
The fourth official's assistance includes informing the referee of irresponsible behaviour by any technical area occupant. The clause stops there: the fourth official reports it and the referee acts, which is why a coach is dismissed by the referee rather than by the fourth official.
An additional assistant referee indicates the goal line and the penalty kick
The additional assistant referees may indicate when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, including when a goal is scored, which team is entitled to a corner kick or goal kick, and whether at penalty kicks the goalkeeper moves off the goal line before the ball is kicked and whether the ball crosses the line. Law 6 words this list as may indicate, where the assistant referees' list is worded indicate, and Ruleside reads nothing as turning on the difference, because the authority is the opening paragraph, which says the other match officials assist the referee and the final decision will always be taken by the referee.
The reserve assistant referee steps in, and competition rules say who else does
A reserve assistant referee may replace an assistant referee, fourth official or additional assistant referee who is unable to continue, and may also assist the referee in the same way as the other on-field match officials, so the role is not only a spare. The referee is the one Law 6 does not cover here, and it hands that question to the competition: its rules must state clearly who replaces a match official unable to start or continue and any associated changes, and in particular it must be clear whether the fourth official, the senior assistant referee or the senior additional assistant referee takes over from the referee. So the Laws name the three candidates and refuse to choose between them, and a competition that never wrote one down has a gap the Laws expected it to fill.
The referee will relieve an official of their duties and report it
The match officials operate under the direction of the referee. In the event of undue interference or improper conduct, the referee will relieve them of their duties and make a report to the appropriate authorities. The verb is will rather than may, and both limbs are in the same sentence: the removal and the report, so this cannot be handled quietly on the day.
An indication is advice, and the referee may decide otherwise
The other on-field match officials assist the referee with offences when they have a clearer view than the referee, and the final decision will always be taken by the referee. The reporting duty is narrower than it is usually described: it covers any serious misconduct or other incident that occurred out of the view of the referee and the other match officials, so an incident one of them saw is not reportable under this clause, and whoever makes a report must advise the referee and the other match officials that they are making it. They also assist with inspecting the field of play, the balls and the players' equipment, and with maintaining records of time, goals and misconduct. All of it is assistance under the referee's direction, so an overruled flag is the Law operating normally rather than a dispute.
The VAR assists on four categories, the AVAR keeps the process running
A video assistant referee is a match official who may assist the referee to make a decision using replay footage, only for a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident. The assistant VAR helps primarily by watching the television footage while the VAR is busy with a check or a review, keeping a record of VAR-related incidents and any communication or technology problems, assisting the VAR's communication with the referee, recording the time lost while play is delayed for a check or review, and communicating information about a VAR-related decision to relevant parties.