# What's the term for "legal but unsporting" tactics?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-term-for-legal-but-unsporting-tactics/302882>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 8, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-term-for-legal-but-unsporting-tactics/302882 "2005-05-08T01:20:57Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-term-for-legal-but-unsporting-tactics/302882/61 "2005-05-19T08:03:25Z")

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> [@Malacandra](#):
>
> Rugby has a still better variant of this. If the referee sees that the non-offending side is doing OK despite the infringement, he makes a mental note of the site of the offence, calls (say) “Knock-on! Advantage!” or “Offside! Advantage!” and signals the appropriate punishment (scrum or penalty), but does not stop play. .

It’s where the principle of the advantage rule in football came from (or was developed from, to be more precise). The FIFA guidance is that on seeing a foul (and dependent on severity, sometimes it’s better management to stop the game immediately to prevent flare-ups) the referee waits 2 or 3 seconds to see how the play develops. If there is a clear advantage, then they raise their arms, palms outstretched. This does not actually mean ‘play on’ - it means ‘play on, advantage’ which is what referees are meant to shout whilst doing it.

J (qualified referee)

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