sing the diagonal system of control. The more senior of the two assistants will normally occupy the

 to position themselves quickly and easily to observe the important aspects of play (offside, ball in or out of play, goal-scoring opportunities, challenges for the ball) from multiple angles with multiple sets of eyes.
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Austrian assistant referee Clemens Schüttengruber signalling an offside offence has taken place

In association football, an assistant referee is one of several officials who assist the referee in controlling a match. Two officials, traditionally known as linesmen (or lineswomen if they are female), stand on the touchlines, while a fourth official assists administrative or other match related tasks as directed by the referee.
Contents

    1 General duties
    2 Fourth official
    3 Extra officials
        3.1 Fifth official
        3.2 Additional assistant referee
    4 References

General duties

All decisions by the assistant referee/linesman are only advisory to the referee; assistants do not actually make binding decisions. During the game one assistant referee oversees one touch-line and one end of the field utilising the diagonal system of control. The more senior of the two assistants will normally occupy the side of the field containing the technical areas, to help oversee substitutions. An assistant referee indicates matters to the referee (usually initially by raising his flag, but nowadays also by wireless communication devices, which can include "buzzer flags" and in the most senior games, additionally a microphone and headset link, which the referee may then act upon.)

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