Ever wonder what those referees on either sideline are up to? Well read below! These are the Assistant Referees and there are two, one for each sideline. They work together with the referee who is on the field.

Corner Kick

When the ball crosses the goal line near to the assistant referee’s position, the assistant referee must make a direct signal with his right hand (better line of vision) to indicate a corner kick.

When the ball crosses the goal line near to the assistant referee’s position but the ball appears still to be in play, the assistant referee must first raise his/her flag to inform the referee that the ball is out of play, then indicate it is a corner kick.

When the ball crosses the goal line far from the assistant referee’s position, the assistant referee must raise his/her flag to inform the referee that the ball is out of play, make eye contact and follow the referee’s decision. The assistant referee may also make a direct signal if the decision is an obvious one.

Goal Kick

When the ball crosses the goal line near to the assistant referee’s position, the assistant referee must make a direct signal with his/her right hand (better line of vision) to indicate a goal kick.

When the ball crosses the goal line near to the assistant referee’s position but the ball appears still to be in play, the assistant referee must first raise his/her flag to inform the referee that the ball is out of play, then indicate it is a goal kick.

When the ball crosses the goal line far from the assistant referee’s position, the assistant referee must raise his/her flag to inform the referee that the ball is out of play, make eye contact and follow the referee’s decision. The assistant referee may also make a direct signal if the decision is an obvious one.

Offside

The first action the assistant referee makes after an offside decision is to raise his/her flag. He/She then uses his/her flag to indicate the area of the pitch in which the offense occurred.

If the flag is not immediately seen by the referee, the assistant referee must keep signalling until it has been acknowledged or the ball is clearly in the control of the defending team.

The flag must be raised using the right hand, giving the assistant referee a better line of vision.

Throw In

When the ball crosses the touch line near to the assistant referee’s position, the assistant referee must make a direct signal to indicate the direction of the throw-in.

When the ball crosses the touch line far from the assistant referee’s position and the throw-in decision is an obvious one, the assistant referee must also make a direct signal to indicate the direction of the throw-in.

When the ball crosses the touch line far from the assistant referee’s position but the ball appears still to be in play or if the assistant referee is in any doubt, the assistant referee must raise his flag to inform the referee that the ball is out of play, make eye contact with the referee and follow the referee’s signal.

Substitution

When dealing with substitutions, the assistant referee must first take notice that the coaches have players lined up and ready to be subbed into the game. The assistant referee must then signal to the referee at the next stoppage in the match by holding with both hands the flag over their head. The head referee seeing this will allow the substitutions during the next stoppage of play (throw in, etc).

Fouls

The assistant referee must raise his/her flag when a foul or misconduct is committed in his/her immediate vicinity or out of the referee’s vision. In all other situations, he/she must wait and offer his/her opinion if it is required. If this is the case, the assistant referee must report what he/she has seen and heard and which players are involved to the referee.

What you can’t see here in our example is that when signalling a foul the assistant referee holds the flag over their head and waves it back and forth.