Advantage: Showing Cards After Playing On

When the referee plays advantage, a caution or sending-off warranted by the original offence is issued when the ball is next out of play. Law 12 then departs from that in three ways: advantage after a DOGSO offence makes it a caution rather than a sending-off, makes it no sanction at all if the advantage produces a goal, and after an offence that stopped a promising attack there is no caution.^2, ³

Key points

✓The default is that the card survives: a caution or sending-off for the original offence is issued when the ball is next out of play^2, ³
✓Advantage after a DOGSO offence replaces the sending-off with a caution for unsporting behaviour, whether or not a goal follows³
✓And if the non-offending team scores as a result of that advantage, there is no disciplinary sanction at all³
✓Advantage after an offence that interfered with or stopped a promising attack means no caution, with no goal required^3, ^6, ⁸
✓So advantage does not only delay a card. In those three cases it reduces or removes one³
✓Advantage should not be applied to serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score^4, ⁵

Read the full rule

Scenarios

Scenario 1

Reckless foul, advantage played, yellow card at next stoppage

Foul

A player makes a reckless tackle deserving a yellow card. The referee plays advantage as the fouled team retains possession. At the next throw-in, the referee shows the yellow card.

Correct call: Correct procedure. A reckless direct free kick offence is cautionable in its own right and is not one of the offences Law 12 exempts, so the caution is issued when the ball is next out of play.

Common mistake: Assuming the yellow card cannot be shown after advantage. The card is for the offence, not for the stoppage.

Law^3, ^6, ⁷

Scenario 2

DOGSO foul, advantage played, goal scored

Foul

A last defender commits a DOGSO offence. The referee plays advantage and the attacking team scores immediately.

Correct call: Goal, and no card at all. Advantage after a DOGSO offence would have made it a caution rather than a sending-off, and a goal scored as a result of the advantage removes the sanction entirely.

Common mistake: Showing the red at the next stoppage, or showing a yellow. Neither survives here. Note also that this is DOGSO only: for violent conduct the sending-off stands, and advantage should not have been played at all unless there was a clear opportunity to score.

Law^3, ⁴

The full rule

The starting position is that the card survives the advantage: where the referee plays advantage for an offence that would have brought a caution or sending-off had play been stopped, that sanction must be issued when the ball is next out of play. The offence is what is punished, not the stoppage. But the same sentence of Law 12 then cancels the card twice, and both limbs are easy to miss. If the offence was denying the opposing team an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, the player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour, so playing advantage turns a sending-off into a yellow card by itself, with no goal required. And if the non-offending team then scores as a result of the advantage having been played, there is no disciplinary sanction at all. Separately, if the offence was interfering with or stopping a promising attack, the player is not cautioned, and that limb needs no goal either: playing advantage is enough. There is also a limit on when advantage should be played at all. It should not be applied to serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score a goal, and where it is played in one of those cases the referee sends the player off when the ball is next out of play. If that player then plays the ball or challenges or interferes with an opponent, the referee stops play, sends them off and restarts with an indirect free kick, unless they committed a more serious offence.^1, ^2, ^3, ^4, ^5, ^6, ⁸

The law · numbered to match the references above

Law 5 · 3. Powers and duties

1allows play to continue when an offence occurs, or a restart is incorrectly taken and the ball is in play, and the opposing team will benefit from the advantage, and penalises the offence/orders a retake if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time or within a few seconds

Law 12 · 4. Disciplinary action

2A player or team official who commits a cautionable or sending-off offence, either on or off the field of play, is disciplined according to the offence.

Law 12 · Advantage

3If the referee plays the advantage for an offence for which a caution/sending-off would have been issued had play been stopped, this caution/sending-off must be issued when the ball is next out of play. However, if the offence was denying the opposing team an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, the player is cautioned for unsporting behaviour, except where a goal is scored by the non-offending team as a result of the advantage having been played, in which case there is no disciplinary sanction; if the offence was interfering with or stopping a promising attack, the player is not cautioned.

4Advantage should not be applied in situations involving serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence unless there is a clear opportunity to score a goal. The referee must send off the player when the ball

5is next out of play, but if the player plays the ball or challenges/interferes with an opponent, the referee will stop play, send off the player and restart with an indirect free kick, unless the player committed a more serious offence.

Law 12 · Cautions for unsporting behaviour

6There are different circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour, including if a player:

7commits in a reckless manner a direct free kick offence

8commits any other offence which interferes with or stops a promising attack, except where the referee awards a penalty kick for an offence which was an attempt to play the ball or a challenge for the ball

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