Q&A for How to Understand Soccer Referee Signals

Most referees just use their dominate hand or whichever hand is closest to the benches.

The line referees will raise their flag straight up in the air when they call offside. When the center referee notices this, he/she'll blow their whistles and the line ref will lower their flag horizontal to the ground. They will also be standing even with the place where the foul occurred.

They are signalling offsides. It is used when there are no assistant referees to raise a flag to indicate it. It is not the proper way to signal it; however, it does help the coaches, players and parents in youth soccer understand why a whistle was blown.

It results in the player not playing the match after it in the competition. This is in case the two are in the same competition or tournament.

When the referee indicates "wait for the whistle," it becomes a "ceremonial" free kick, and the kick may not happen until the whistle is blown. If the kick is taken early, the kick must be retaken, and the kicker may be given a caution (yellow card) for "delaying the restart of play."

It may mean there was no goal scored. Under NFHS rules, this means to stop the clock. It is not used in FIFA play.

The signal should be stopping play by a whistle and pointing toward the goal for a goal kick. It is a re-take of the original goal kick as the ball is not "in play" until it leaves the penalty area.

No, the referee in a soccer game is not meant to help the spectators understand, and the players should be able to hear the whistle on the field.

The AR (assistant referee) moves their flag in the direction of whose ball it is.

There is no law requiring the ball to touch the ground (other than when it is initially set on the penalty mark) before entering the goal for the goal to count.

This means that two people must touch the ball before it is a goal. The second of these people can be on the opposing team.

When the ball rolls past the lines, the referee will probably blow a whistle.

Referees usually signal to the team dugout with hands up and motioning for the staff to get to the player.

If the referee rolls his hands in a circle, it means that a substitution is taking place.

When you can't see what's happening clearly and can't keep up with the game, that's retirement time. For some people that could be in their 60s, for others it could be much, much later. It really is about your level of fitness and acuity, but also check club rules.

They will raise their arms over their head and make an X when a goal is scored.

You play on.

Normally the video assistant referee would alert the head referee.

The referee whistles three times at halftime and at the end of the game.

Very good question! Some people think that there should be an orange card for offenses that aren't yellow card level or red card level.

The person who broke the other's leg might be either red-carded and sent off or banned by the referee association.

It depends on where the ball goes out and who touched it last. If the ball goes out over the goal line and the attacking team touched it last, it's a goalie kick. If it goes out over the goal line and the defending team touched it last, it's a corner kick for the attacking team. If the ball goes out over a sideline, the team that didn't touch it last throws it in.

Read method 2 of understanding the sideline referees. There's information on that there.

The referee would point toward the defending goal of the team that last touched the ball before it went out.

Raising both hands and crossing them indicates a time out. It signals the players to take a break or lets the other officials know.

A player on either team has committed a foul and there will be an immediate time out and a penalty will be called out.

To become a referee, you'll need to be familiar with the rules, procedures, and signals used in the sport you want to referee for, and you'll need to get certified by the relevant sports associated. To get certified, you'll likely be required to take a training course, attend a rules clinic, and pass an exam.

If the assistant stands near the goal line and points at the goal, they are signalling for a goal kick.

The penalty for goalkeepers who handle deliberate back passes is an indirect free kick. The referee will award the kick at the same position where the actual handling offence took place.

Currently there is a technology called Hawkeye, which is used in the English Premier League to track if the ball goes over the goal line but the technology is not used to track when the ball has gone into touch.