Revised Procedures and Signals

[Doug]

To: National Referees
National Instructors
National Assessors
State Referee Administrators
State Directors of Instruction
State Directors of Assessment
From: Alfred Kleinaitis
Manager of Referee Development and Education
Subject: Revised Procedures and Signals
Date: May 14, 2008
Senior referees, instructors, and assessors are continuously consulted regarding the effectiveness of the standard mechanics, procedures, and signals which are expected to be used by officials in this country. These officials are on the front line in developing methods for handling new situations. Such methods are tried, revised, discussed, and gradually fine-tuned before they are ready to be declared a "standard" procedure for use by all referees.
As a result of this process, two relatively minor changes are being introduced in 2008 in accepted mechanics, effective as of this memorandum. They will be incorporated into the 2008 version of the Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials, soon to be available from USSF. These revisions should be incorporated into your referee training programs as soon as possible.
First, when the referee has signaled a foul and makes obvious eye contact with the assistant referee for advice on whether the offense occurred inside the penalty area, the assistant referee's signal to indicate that the offense was inside the penalty area has been modified (the signal that the offense was outside the penalty area is unchanged). Instead of the flag being held straight down in front of the body, the assistant referee should display the flag across the lower body is shown in the figure below.
Second, the responsibilities of the lead assistant referee for the taking of a penalty kick (as well as for kicks from the penalty mark to break a tie) will now clearly include assisting the referee in determining if a goal has been scored and for indicating if the goalkeeper has moved illegally and, as a result, a goal was not scored. The signal to indicate this is the same as the signal described in the previous paragraph and is shown in the figure below. Referees must be sure to discuss these changes regarding penalty kick
and kicks from the mark situations in their pregame and to be very clear about the circumstances in which the signal for goalkeeper movement should be given.

sistant Referee Signal for:
•
Offense whistled by referee occurred inside penalty area
•
Illegal goalkeeper movement in penalty kick and kicks from the mark situations