The term advantage refers to the decision of the referee against the player during the match. This decision is based on a fouled player but was allowed to continue playing. This decision is based on the assumption that the team suffering from the foul is an advantageous situation if the referee had not stopped the game.
How Advantage works in Football
The advantage rule in football is considered unique. If a referee sees that there was an obvious foul played, it is up to him whether he should call it out or not. If he thinks that by calling out a foul can affect the position of the team, he has the option not to call the foul.
An example of when an advantage works is a goalkeeper attempting to stop a player from the opposing team from taking the shot. However, before he can proceed to wipe out the opponent, the player was able to make a weak shot. But, after the collision, even if the goalkeeper proceeds to take out its opponent, the ball manages to go into the ball.
In this situation, a goalkeeper commits foul before the other player scores a goal. If the referee was to stop the play moments before the goalkeeper wiped out the striker, he would have negated the goal made by the opposing team. It means that if the referee made the call, the result would benefit the fouling team as the goal is not considered a score. However, if the foul committed involves serious foul play, the advantage rule is not applied.
Rules of the Game: Referee
The referee has the sole responsibility to ensure the Laws of the Game enforced is fair. The referee also has to make decisions following both the Laws of the Game and the “spirit and intent of the laws.” In this case, the decision to enforce the advantage rule solely depends on the referee. This decision is made within the framework of the Laws of the Game. Whatever the decision of the referee is, are final. It includes whether the goal is scored or not.