I was told by a referee assessor on Tuesday that from next season your player can be offside, but the opposition free kick could end up being taken in your own half! It goes something like the player is initially in an offside position but isn't flagged simply for being there, but then he retreats sort of straight away into his own half and plays the ball then touches the ball. The free kick takes place where he touches it. This could lead to the odd very freakish situation.
I always thought that (probably wrongly) the ref could report any player from kick off until he left the ground. So, when does it start? As he gets out of his car? Or, if he stalls his car at traffic lights on the way to the ground and a player calls him something obscene?
A referee can report to the FA any incident that he believes brings the game into disrepute, regardless of the place of the incident. However, it would not be realistic or sensible to show a red card to a player in say the car park before/after the game. Thus actually showing cards is only used on or close to the field of play.
The concept of red and yellow cards, based upon traffic lights (yellow for a warning/caution and red for danger) were first suggested by an English referee in the 50's (?) (I have forgotten his name - Arthur someone) to overcome the language barrier that existed at a time when English was not an international language in football circles (ie when most players only played football in their native country). Using a yellow card was a way of telling a foreign player with no knowledge of the same language as the referee that he has reached his last chance.
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It goes something like the player is initially in an offside position but isn't flagged simply for being there, but then he retreats sort of straight away into his own half and plays the ball then touches the ball. The free kick takes place where he touches it.
This could lead to the odd very freakish situation.