Assistant Referee's Guide to SAFA Laws of the Game Senior 2026/27

From the IFAB practical guidelines (2026/27):

General play: stay in line with the second-last defender, or with the ball if it is nearer the goal line than the second-last defender. Always face the field, even when running, and use side-steps for short distances. This gives the best line of vision for offside.

Restarts

From the IFAB practical guidelines (2026/27):

• Keep the flag unfurled and visible to the referee at all times, usually in the hand closest to the referee.
• To signal: stop running, face the field, make eye contact with the referee, and raise the flag with a deliberate motion (not hasty or exaggerated). The flag should be like an extension of your arm.
• Raise the flag with the hand you'll use for the next part of the signal. If you need to change hands, switch the flag below the waist.
• If you signal that the ball is out of play, hold the signal until the referee acknowledges it.
• Beep flags, where used, are only to get the referee's attention (for example offside, offences out of the referee's view, or tight out-of-play or goal decisions).
• Avoid obvious hand gestures. A discreet hand signal agreed in the pre-match discussion can help.

Law 11 (2026/27)

Offside position (not an offence in itself): any part of the head, body or feet is in the opponents' half (excluding the halfway line) and nearer the opponents' goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent.

• Hands and arms of all players, including goalkeepers, don't count. The upper boundary of the arm is the bottom of the armpit.
• A player level with the second-last opponent, or the last two opponents, is not in an offside position.

Offside offence: a player in an offside position when the ball is played or touched by a team-mate is penalised only for becoming involved in active play by:

• interfering with play: playing or touching a ball passed or touched by a team-mate
• interfering with an opponent: clearly blocking their line of vision, challenging them for the ball, clearly attempting to play a nearby ball when this impacts on them, or an obvious action that clearly impacts on their ability to play the ball
• gaining an advantage: playing the ball or interfering with an opponent after it rebounds or deflects off the post, crossbar, a match official or an opponent, or after a deliberate save

A player in an offside position who receives the ball from an opponent who deliberately played it (including a deliberate handball, but not a deliberate save) is not considered to have gained an advantage.

No offence if the player receives the ball directly from a goal kick, throw-in or corner kick.

Sanction: indirect free kick where the offence occurred, even in the player's own half.

From the IFAB practical guidelines (2026/27):

1. Raise the flag using your right hand (better line of vision).
2. If the referee stops play, use the flag to indicate the area of the field where the offence happened.
3. If the referee doesn't see the flag straight away, keep it up until it is acknowledged or the defending team clearly has control of the ball.

Timing: a player in an offside position is only penalised once they become involved in active play. For example, when an attacker in an offside position who isn't interfering with an opponent touches the ball, that is when you raise the flag. If they don't touch the ball and don't interfere with an opponent, there's no offence and you keep the flag down.

Your positioning matters most: stay in line with the second-last defender, or the ball if it is nearer the goal line, and face the field.

Under Law 6 you indicate when the whole of the ball leaves the field and which team gets the corner kick, goal kick or throw-in.

Throw-in (ball wholly over the touchline)

• Near you: give a direct signal showing the direction of the throw-in.
• Far from you and obvious: still give a direct signal.
• Far from you and you're in doubt: raise the flag to show the ball is out, make eye contact and follow the referee's signal.

Goal kick or corner kick (ball wholly over the goal line)

• Raise the flag with your right hand (better line of vision) to show the ball is out, then:
  • near you: indicate goal kick or corner kick
  • far from you: make eye contact and follow the referee's decision
• If the ball clearly crossed the goal line, you don't need to raise the flag, and if the decision is obvious, especially when the referee signals, no signal is needed.

If you signal that the ball is out of play, keep the signal up until the referee acknowledges it.

From the IFAB practical guidelines (2026/27):

When to flag: raise the flag when a foul or misconduct is committed in your immediate vicinity or out of the referee's vision. In all other situations, wait, and give your opinion if asked. Before flagging, be sure that:

• the offence was out of the referee's view, or the referee's view was obstructed, and
• the referee would not have played advantage.

Use the "wait and see" technique: don't flag if the fouled team benefits from advantage. Eye contact with the referee is essential.

How to flag:

1. Raise the flag with the hand you'll use for the rest of the signal, which shows which team gets the free kick.
2. Make eye contact with the referee.
3. Give the flag a slight wave back and forth, avoiding excessive or aggressive movement.

Near the penalty area:

• Defender's foul inside the area the referee hasn't acted on: flag, use the beep signal if you have one, then visibly move down the touchline towards the corner flag.
• Foul just outside the area: make eye contact, flag if necessary, and make a clear movement along the touchline towards the halfway line to show it was outside.

From the IFAB practical guidelines for match officials (2026/27):

• Clear goal: make eye contact with the referee, then move quickly 25-30 metres along the touchline towards the halfway line, without raising the flag.
• Goal scored but the ball seems still in play (for example it bounced back out): first raise the flag to get the referee's attention, then confirm the goal by running 25-30 metres towards the halfway line.
• Ball didn't wholly cross the line: play continues as normal; the referee makes eye contact with you and, if necessary, gives a discreet hand signal.

Remember the ball must wholly pass over the goal line between the posts and under the crossbar for a goal.

Penalty kick during the match

• Stand at the intersection of the goal line and the penalty area (no additional assistant referees).
• You indicate whether the goalkeeper moves off the goal line before the ball is kicked, and whether the ball crosses the line (Law 6).
• If the goalkeeper blatantly moves off the line before the kick and prevents a goal, indicate the encroachment as the referee instructed you in the pre-match briefing.

Where goal-line technology or VAR can check the goal line, IFAB recommends the AR stands on the touchline in line with the penalty mark (the offside line), but most SAFA amateur matches have neither.

Penalty shoot-out

• One AR stands at the intersection of the goal line and the goal area.
• The other AR stands in the centre circle to control the players.

Laws of the Game 2026/27

• You indicate when a substitution is requested (Law 6). Once you've been told by the fourth official or a team official, signal it to the referee at the next stoppage.
• You also monitor the substitution procedure.

The procedure you are watching (Law 3):

• the player being replaced leaves by the nearest point on the boundary line, unless the referee allows otherwise
• they must be off within 10 seconds of the board being shown or the referee's signal; if they aren't, the substitute may only enter at the first stoppage after one minute following the restart
• the substitute enters only during a stoppage, at the halfway line, after the replaced player has left and after the referee's signal

Under SAFA's Uniform Rules, only substitutes named on the team sheet (up to seven) may take part.

Signalling (Practical guidelines, Laws 2026/27)
If you signal for a sending-off offence and the signal isn't seen immediately:

• if play has been stopped, the restart may be changed in line with the Laws (free kick, penalty kick and so on)
• if play has already restarted, the referee may still take disciplinary action, but can't penalise the offence with a free kick or penalty kick

Under Law 5, a sanction can only be given after play restarts if another match official had identified the offence and tried to tell the referee before the restart. So signal promptly.

Reporting (Law 6)

• You must submit a report to the appropriate authorities on any serious misconduct or other incident that happened out of the view of the referee and the other match officials.
• You must tell the referee (and the other officials) that you are making a report.
• You also help keep records of time, goals and misconduct.

Under SAFA's Disciplinary Code (art. 109), match officials are obliged to report infringements that come to their notice, and the facts in match officials' reports are presumed accurate at hearings (art. 99).

Only in limited situations (Laws of the Game 2026/27):

• Free-kick distance: you may enter the field to help control the 9.15 m (10 yards) distance (Law 6).
• Consultation: when the referee needs to talk to you directly, you may advance 2-3 metres onto the field if necessary. Both of you should face the field while talking, so you aren't overheard and can keep watching the players.

For disciplinary matters, eye contact and a basic discreet hand signal to the referee may be enough. As a general rule, avoid obvious hand signals; any discreet signals should have a clear meaning agreed in the pre-match discussion.