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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Referees, VAR & Discipline

Assistant referee

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/əˌsɪstənt ˌrefəˈriː/nounCore term

In football (soccer), assistant referee means: One of the two officials who run along the touchlines with a flag, signalling offside, throw-ins, goal kicks and fouls the referee may have missed.

In Turkish: yardımcı hakem, yan hakem

How it is used

Often shortened to AR; the older word linesman is still heard. The assistant referee raises or waves the flag. When no offside is given, commentators say "the flag stayed down".

Example sentences

  1. The assistant referee flagged for offside before the ball went in.

  2. Their captain complained to the assistant referee about the throw-in.

Common collocations

  • raise the flag
  • the assistant referee's flag
  • the flag stayed down
  • linesman
  • refereeThe official in charge of a match who applies the rules, blows the whistle, gives fouls and shows yellow and red cards.
  • offsideDescribes an attacker who, in the opponents' half, is nearer their goal line than both the ball and the second-last opponent when a teammate plays the ball, and then takes part in play.
  • fourth officialThe match official who stands between the two technical areas, manages substitutions, shows the added time and helps the referee with other duties.
  • throw-inThe restart when the ball crosses a touchline: a player from the team that did not touch it last throws it in with both hands from behind and over the head.

More terms: Referees, VAR & Discipline

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