Football is often called “the people’s game”, but for over 140 years there have been almost studied conspiracies of silence to avoid helping the people understand their game better. Is it time to try out an experimental code of signals in a suitable competition?
Once, in a school match, I was puzzled as to why the referee had called a foul against me, so I asked him, “What was that for, ref?” I am sure I was not impolite but the answer, “Don’t question my decisions; get on with the game or you’ll be in my book”, seemed unjust. I was not contesting the decision but asking for information on what I had done wrong so that I could avoid repeating the offence. After the match I asked the referee again, explaining why I wanted to know. He was more reasonable.
“You raised your foot close to an opponent’s knee and I considered it to be dangerous play.” I thanked him, adding that I would try to be more careful in future. Then I thought, why did he not show me at the time, say by raising one foot to knee height? I, and all present, would have understood immediately.
When Italy played France in the 2006 FIFA World Cup’” final before a global audience of billions, only one person, Argentinian referee Horacio Elizondo, knew the whole story of what had gone on in those highly emotional two hours of play. Most stoppages of the match were obvious, e.g. the ball had run out of play, but others were less fathomable.
“THAT WAS UNFAIR, SIR!”
Do football people care? Well, I am one of them and I do care. An experience in China showed me I am not alone. In my book Soccer rules explained I tell the story of a match in 1965 at The Workers Stadium, Beijing, before 40,000 excited fans. Most of the applause occurred when the game was stopped – after a man’s voice broadcast an announcement. After hearing this several times, I asked my interpreter for an explanation. He pointed to a person seated at a table close to the touch line.
“He is an international referee and is explaining why Dr Wong, the man in the middle, awarded a free kick.” The people appreciated this insight into the game through the eyes of an expert and applauded the officials as much as the players.
The players want to know, the people want to know, and so do television commentators at the big games. As communicators, any titbit of information eases their task of presenting the play, adding educational value to their words and, in turn, increasing the pleasure of the audience – as in that Beijing match.
Other sports are way ahead of football in terms of communication. Nearly all have an established code of signals to support their rules. Rugby, baseball, basketball, ice hockey, cricket and the rest all help explain what goes on. Why not in football, the world’s most popular sports spectacle? One reason is that the game of association football was created for gentlemen players who imposed an impeccable code of fair play on themselves. The referee was there only “to decide disputed points” put to him by the players. Appeals of “That was unfair, sir!” and the accused villain’s
response of “No, I don’t think so, sir” were resolved by the neutral official. It was unthinkable that gentlemen should “show dissent, byword or action” regarding any decision made by the referee (the second of the seven yellow-card offences in the modern laws). The referee has never been required to explain or justify decisions because of this gentlemanly ethic – hence, no code of signals.
MUCH OF THE CONFUSION
Personal research, started in 1970 -involving two years’ study of referees’ communication – proves that officials want to be more informative. To be helpful, referees use other unofficial signals on average 14 times per match. An analysis of six matches revealed 27 different signals, falling into two categories:
Instinctive – natural gestures miming the offence, e.g., handling the ball, pushing, kicking an opponent, shirt holding, etc., and Personalised – individual attempts to indicate offences which are difficult to mime, e.g. obstruction, offside, dangerous play, etc.
Understanding of the referee’s message varied according to the clarity of his body language. Those who attempted to communicate appeared more decisive and efficient than those who made little effort. Negative reaction to a decision, by players or spectators, was often stifled when a clear, firm signal was seen. Based on this research, an unofficial experiment was tested in 1972 at a national youth competition final at Crystal Palace, near London. Players and spectators were given a leaflet with a few illustrations showing refereeing signals they might see and what these would mean. The test was announced over the public address system before the kick-off – it was as near as we could get to the situation in the Beijing match. The experiment was warmly received and generated much interest. A typical and frequent comment was, “Why can’t we see this in every game?”
In the same year, a paper detailing the research and the experiment was submitted to FIFA with recommendations for a basic code of signals for football. The Referees Committee considered the document but shelved the idea. Three years later a memorandum, published in the 1977 FIFA Universal Guide for Referees, noted:
“It is not the duty of the referee nor is it a useful function to explain his decisions to the players or spectators. Any attempt to do so can lead to confusion, uncertainty and delay.” A slight change of attitude in 1991 led to a memorandum which repeats the fear of confusion etc., but states that “There are times when a simple gesture … can aid communication and assist towards greater understanding, and gaining more respect, to the mutual benefit of referees and players”.
That note acknowledges the value of communication. However, it made no attempt to help referees explain the many decisions for which only they know the reasoning – the decisions which baffle players and the millions who watch. They and the ever-growing numbers of newcomers attracted to football want to know more about their game. Much of the confusion, dissent and delay, ever-present in the modern game, would be reduced if referees were allowed to explain obscure decisions using a simple code of signals.
SUGGESTIONS ONLY
Miming and other informative gestures are not difficult — referees act instinctively. However, their use might become more widespread if the most frequently observed were illustrated in a guide to explain their meaning. The real value of a standard code would be to identify offences which are difficult to mime, for example:
Advantage: The traditional “play on” signal — sweeping both arms forward – provokes unfair criticism when interpreted as “I did not see anything wrong — play on”. It can be modified to give a clear message, “I saw that, but play on”. The example shown in Fig. 1 suggests that the referee points to the offence and makes a forward motion with the other arm.
Offside: In my research, referees attempted to indicate offside with differing gestures. Five signals, from a sweeping movement of one arm across the body to raising both hands above the head, were observed in as many matches. Just one universal gesture would avoid confusion.
Fig. 2 suggests both hands raised to shoulder height and moved apart and together with the index fingers vertical. Careless and reckless play; using excessive force: Six direct free-kick offences, e.g. pushing, tripping, holding, etc. are judged on these criteria. The current signal, indicating the direction of the kick, provides no clue as to the reasoning. Players frequently claim that they have tried to play the ball when an opponent is tackled without reasonable care. One simple gesture could cover all three degrees of foul play. In Fig. 3, the referee indicates his decision by knocking clenched fists together in front of his chest.
Dangerous play: All actions which unintentionally put an opponent at risk, e.g. an attempted kick at a head-high ball, can be covered by one signal. Fig. 4 suggests an open hand raised vertically to head height (1) and then confirmed by the existing one-arm-raised signal to inform all that the free kick is indirect (2).
Denying a goal-scoring opportunity: A complex judgement call, with severe consequences, which merits a special signal. Fig. 5 illustrates one possibility -arms crossed in front of the chest.
These five aspects of play are common to practically every football match. They are judged by the referee and it is mystifying and irritating for players and spectators when his decisions are unclear.
In discussions with referees at all levels and in various countries, the idea of easing their task by introducing a standard code of signals has always been welcomed with enthusiasm. They are keen to give it a try. The illustrated signals are not definitive, but intended as suggestions which could form the basis of an experimental code of signals for trial and evaluation in a suitable competition.
p.s. Stanley Lover is an Englishman living in Paris who specialises in the Laws of the Game. He has written several books on the laws and refereeing and many articles for FM about the topics mentioned.

Born: 17 March 1939 in Cusano Milanino (Italy)
Nationality: Italian
Career as a player: 1953-1970: AC Milan. 1970-1971: Varese.
Honours as a player: Italian league championship (1962, 1968), Italian cup (1967), European Cup (1963, 1969), Cup Winners’ Cup (1968), Intercontinental Cup (1969). 17 caps for Italy, 1 goal.
Career as a coach: 1972-1976: AC Milan (youth coach from 1972-1974). 1976-1986: Juventus. 1986-1991: Inter Milan. 1991-1994: juventus. 1994-1995: Bayern Munich. 1995: Cagliari. 1996-1998: Bayern Munich. 1998-2000: Fiorentina. 2000-2004: Italy. 2004-2005: Benfica. 2005-2006: Stuttgart. 2006-2008: Red Bull Salzburg. Since May 2008: Republic of Ireland.
Honours as a coach: Italian league championship (1977, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1989), Italian cup (1979, 1983), Italian super cup (1989), German league championship (1997), German cup (1998), German super cup (1997), Portuguese league championship (2005), Austrian league championship (2007), European Cup (1985), Cup Winners’Cup (1984), UEFA Cup (1977, 1991, 1993), UEFA Super Cup (1985), Intercontinental Cup (1985).

Solidarity, Sweat And Loyalty
He is one of the most successful football coaches of all time and has won titles in his native Italy as well as Portugal, Germany and Austria. Giovanni Trapattoni took over as coach of the Republic of Ireland in May 2008 and aims to guide them to the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.
There was certainly a touch of sadness in Italy about the end of Giovanni Trapattoni’s reign as national team coach following EURO 2004. Not because of his sporting achievements with the national team, which had been modest, but because the maestros outbursts provided top-class entertainment, particularly compared to his successors, Marcello Lippi and Roberto Donadoni.
“The Koreans run like Chinese cyclists,” warned “Trap” on one occasion. Another time, he offered up the following philosophy: “If you ask me whether I prefer Luisella or Antonella, I’d definitely take Luisella. Maybe I have to make do with Antonella — but if the result is the same, Antonella or Luisella would be fine.” His meaning might not have been very clear, but an amusing scene was always guaranteed.
But that was not good enough for the Azzurri’s 60 million other national team coaches. “Anyone who wants to be a coach in Italy has to be a complete masochist,” Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi BufFon once said. After an indifferent 2002 FIFA World Cup™ campaign and exiting EURO 2004 at the group stage, Trapattoni had enough of masochism and endless controversy and left Italy, where he has not worked since. “I love my homeland and I have won many battles in my career. In the end I got a few good offers from Italy, but I will never work there again,” he said with wounded pride.
“STOP DREAMING!”
However, he had no reason to fear that he would be out of the game for long. Following spells in Portugal, Germany and Austria, “Trap” has now pitched up in Ireland, where he was officially presented as national coach at the beginning of May. And never mind that his wife Paola only grudgingly puts up with his traipsing around Europe. “I sometimes get a right earful from her. But at 69 I cannot and will not stop, I still have too much to give back to football,” he says with conviction. You can sense it as his eyes light up while he is talking and he suddenly jumps up to demonstrate tactics with his hands and feet.
“Some say that I am old-fashioned. I have to laugh at that. I bring innovation to all of my teams. People know that they can demand success from Trapattoni and that they will get 100 per cent 24 hours a day.”
This is dogma that Trapattoni learned from his youth. “My father worked in a factory, arrived home and then slaved away in the field so that we had something to eat. The poor guy ruined his back, but no one could stop him,” recalls Trapattoni.
“No matter what kind of journey life takes you on, a huge part of you is always formed at the first station,” Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson once said fittingly.
Trapattoni grew up in Cusano Milanino in the early 1940s just as industries started to mushroom in this small town in the province of Milan. Family, solidarity, sweat and above all, loyalty – these were the town’s guiding principles. Then there was football, which the young Trapattoni would start playing as soon as he was out of school for the day.
This did not please his father Francesco at all: “Stop dreaming,” he would complain to his son. “These days you need knowledge to succeed. Look at me, what kind of a life is that? We may not be short of bread, but you have to get on in life. You won’t get anywhere with a ball.”
Giovanni also worked in a factory near the school for four hours a day, six days a week. Then he would cycle ten kilometres to the station from where he would catch the train to watch his idols at AC Milan practise. Some years later, in 1958, he pulled on the red and black shirt himself and made his debut in a Coppa Italia match against Monza – with a 38.5°C fever. “I didn’t tell anyone, I would have been crazy to pass up that chance.”
Trapattoni’s career at Milan lasted until 1971 and included two league championships, two European Cups and one Intercontinental Cup. Both as a player and subsequently as a coach, Trapattoni was branded with the values of hard work, commitment, honesty and fairness. Exceptional players must work for the team, not the other way round.
IDEAL COACH
Trapattoni won the Italian league championship in 1976-77, his first year at Juventus. He remained there for a further five seasons, winning another league championship and two UEFA Cups. “He was the ideal coach, the man who laid the foundations for success,” says former Juventus goalkeeper Dino ZofF. The late Juventus owner Gianni Agnelli once paid the following tribute to “Trap”: “He always wanted to win, but above all he loved the great footballers such as Hamrin, Platini, Maradona, Baggio – regardless of whether they wore our shirt or the opponent’s. Trapattoni was a master at assessing the person and the personality inside a footballer.”
Nevertheless, many still accuse him of playing destructive, defensive football. It is a label that he accepts with a shrug of his shoulders and a stream of metaphors. “I have been stung by eight scorpions in my life, I have the antidote in my blood. It is not the label that is important but the contents of the bottle,” is his response. “And besides, I don’t like defeats, in which I wallow like a half-naked child in the snow. I have often varied my tactics — for example, I have never forbidden Lothar Matthaus from going forward.”
“He is phenomenally professional,” admits Matthaus. Trapattoni then led an Inter side containing Matthaus to the 1989 Serie A title, a feat known as the “record championship” in Italy. Under the two points for a victory system, no Serie A team had ever amassed as many points – 58 – as “Trap”‘s side.
Furthermore, his total of 23 titles at club level is not indicative of a catenaccio style of football. These achievements make Trapattoni one of the most successful coaches in history. Like the Austrian Ernst Happel, he has won the league championship in four different countries: Italy, Portugal (with Benfica), Austria (with Red Bull Salzburg) and of course Germany with Bayern Munich.
METICULOUS WORKER
At Bayern he needed two attempts to land the league title and will always be remembered for his famous “Ich habe fertig” outburst in broken German when he felt that he had been left in the lurch and betrayed by the most important people in his circle – the players. “The players are the coach’s apostles; points and tables are the critics’ apostles,” is Trapattoni’s credo. He is a meticulous worker who is also capable of self-mockery and learning. “When you are in another country and don’t know yet how people think, eat or tick, you are sometimes like an elephant in a china shop. You have to learn from your experiences and be able to laugh at yourself.”
He is certainly far from finished. He is now attempting to bring Ireland out of their current slump and guide them to qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™. He is assisted by his former apostles at Juventus, Marco Tardelli and Liam Brady, who advised Trapattoni to accept the job.
“I am sometimes very impulsive,” said “Trap” at his unveiling. “I say what I think, but I think 100 per cent.” Perhaps that is what makes him so loved by the fans. On his first walk around Dublin, he was already recognised by numerous passers-by, who gave him a hearty welcome and wished him all the best.
“I have had amazingly good luck in my life, for which I must thank my wife and my family every day,” he says. “I am also grateful to football, which has provided me with so many experiences. Life is really like a novel.”
One day he would like to tell his story in writing. “But not until my career is over – so definitely not before my 80th birthday.”

Born: 16 August 1981 in Asuncion, Paraguay
Position: Striker
Nationality: Paraguayan/Spanish
Height: 1 91m
Weight: 80kg
Clubs: 1988-1999: Olimpia Asuncion. 1999-2007: Bayern Munich. Since July 2007: Blackburn Rovers.
Honours: 1998: Paraguayan league champion. 1999: Paraguayan league champion, Paraguayan player of the year. 2000: German league champion, German cup winner. 2001: UEFA Champions League winner, Toyota Cup winner, German league champion. 2002: played in the FIFA World Cup™ in Korea/Japan. 2003: German league champion. 2005: German league champion, German cup winner. 2006: played in the FIFA World Cup™ in Germany, German league champion, German cup winner, 57 caps for Paraguay, 18 goals.
Miscellaneous: Married to Giselle, the sister of his former Paraguay and Olimpia team-mate Ricardo Tavarelli. They have one son, Tobias (4), and one daughter, Fiorella (2).

“Babygol” back to his best
Sometimes it can take years for outstanding potential to be translated into outstanding performance. For Roque Santa Cruz, that potential was obvious from an early age but it is only in the last year, at the age of 26, that he has finally shown that he deserves to be considered one of the leading strikers in the world.
If the English Premier League is the strongest in the world, and recent results in the Champions League indicate that it is, then as the fourth-highest scorer in that competitive arena Roque Santa Cruz can rightly be regarded as world class. But it has taken the best part of a decade for the striker to live up to his early billing.
In terms of footballing talent, Santa Cruz was a child prodigy. He was only nine years old when Olimpia, that famous old club in Asuncion, the capital city of Paraguay, spotted him and asked him to join their youth programme. To his classmates, Santa Cruz became an immediate hero, given special permission to arrive late for his lessons after training with Olimpia.
Success at senior level arrived astonishingly quickly. Santa Cruz dominated the scoring charts in the youth division and by the age of 15, after a rapid growth spurt had seen him spiral towards the 1.90m mark, the club’s coach Luis Cubilla invited him to train with the first-team squad. Santa Cruz was still 16 when he made his senior debut in 1998, Cubilla throwing him into the fray against Cerro Porteno in the Paraguayan Super Clasico.
In such situations, with paparazzi waiting outside the school gates, some young players would have let fame go to his head. Not Santa Cruz – armed with a 100-dollar pay packet he took his whole class out for a coke and a sandwich.
“I ROCK”
On the football pitch, he never looked back and his arrival in the senior side coincided with a wonderful run for Olimpia and two league championship titles in 1998 and 1999. Santa Cruz was still 18 when the second title arrived and his 14 goals for his club marked him out as a major talent. By that time, he was already an international — that honour arrived when he was 17 and his three goals in the Copa America, combined with his impact for Olimpia, were enough to secure him Paraguay’s footballer of the year award in 1999 as well as the nickname “Babygol” as the heir apparent to Gabriel “Batigol” Batistuta. Such youthful promise inevitably attracted attention from Europe and it was one of the giants of football, Bayern Munich, who swooped.
For the next eight years, the medals arrived with satisfying regularity: four German Bundesliga titles, five domestic cups and even the Champions League itself in 2001. He also became something of a cult favourite of the Bayern fans and contributed to a pop song — “Ich, Roque” (“I Rock”) – that was a hit in Germany.
Except that for Santa Cruz, life was something of a frustration. He found himself struggling to be viewed as a first-choice striker and usually had to settle for substitutes roles behind the likes of Giovane Elber, Carsten Jancker, Roy Makaay and Claudio Pizarro. His youth was an undoubted hindrance – plus he arrived speaking only Spanish, without friends and family and Bayern were packed with dominant personalities such as Stefan Effenberg and Lothar Matthaus. He was also cursed with bad luck- injuries arrived just as he seemed to have forced his way into the first XI. He was also devastated by the death of his brother Oscar in a car crash three years ago.
A NEW BEGINNING
The telephone call that turned Santa Cruz’s career around arrived in the summer of 2007. Although Munich had been home for almost eight years, the striker had decided he needed to move on. Alerted to his availability, a number of clubs made approaches but it was Blackburn Rovers manager Mark Hughes who impressed Santa Cruz most. Hughes had also played in the Bundesliga and he told the striker he understood that the hierarchical system that operated at some German clubs could hold back players such as himself.
Blackburn would not be like that, said Hughes: Santa Cruz would be given every chance to prove himself and the style would suit him. Santa Cruz liked what he heard and agreed immediately. “This is a new beginning and I want to play and show everyone the real me,” he said on arrival. “I had stopped doing that at Bayern.”
He scored his first goal in the Premier League with only his third touch and 22 more followed, his best-ever return in a single season, and he also rediscovered his touch at international level with a hat trick against Colombia at the 2007 Copa America in Venezuela. That propelled him into second place in the list of Paraguay’s all-time scorers and he currently stands on 18 goals in 57 internationals. Having now cracked it on the club stage, perhaps Santa Cruz’s next challenge is at international level — only Jose Cardozo’s 25 goals stand above him and that total should be very much in his grasp given that he has so many more years ahead of him.
Santa Cruz has a wealth of experience to lean on too, despite his relatively tender years. He helped his country to both the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cup™ finals, although it has to be said that his greatest impact in Germany in 2006 was being voted sexiest footballer in the tournament by both Kicker and Die Welt.
“THE REAL ME”
Santa Cruz is one of those people who appears to have it all: fantastic talent, film-star looks and a very likeable personality. Even back in his schooldays in Asuncion he was determined not to be changed by his fame and it appears that is still very much his attitude.
Blackburn chairman John Williams told FIFA magazine: “Roque is an absolutely first-class fellow and he is superb with the fans. Ever since he arrived at the club he has been terrific as a player and as a person. He goes out of his way to sign autographs and is a really nice, humble and polite young man who is very well-liked by his team-mates.”
His success in England has already seen him linked with a move to Arsenal, or to one of the Italian giants, but whatever happens at least Roque Santa Cruz can say: “This is now the real me”.