You Are The Ref: Legendary football quiz kicks off on the iPhone

You Are The Ref, the legendary quiz testing your knowledge of the beautiful game, has arrived on your iPhone, in the nick of time for the World Cup

Richard Trenholm

Richard Trenholm was CNET's film and TV editor, covering the big screen, small screen and streaming. A member of the Film Critic's Circle, he's covered technology and culture from London's tech scene to Europe's refugee camps to the Sundance film festival.

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Richard Trenholm

June 11, 2010 4:50 a.m. PT

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In a crucial World Cup match, a goalkeeper with a renowned long throw hurls the ball upfield and scores a freak goal. Do you give the goal? That's just one of the split-second decisions faced by referees that has to be made on the pitch and eternally debated in playground and pub. It's also one of the questions in You Are the Ref (iTunes link), the legendary comic strip refereeing quiz that has now become an iPhone app.

In its 50-year history the strip has appeared in Shoot!, Roy of the Rovers and The Guardian. The app features refereeing dilemmas to test your knowledge of the beautiful game, set by former international ref Keith Hackett and illustrated by comics legend Paul Trevillion.

As well as the fiendish footie puzzlers, you can add your friends' names to personalise the app and share the results on Facebook and Twitter. We've selected four questions from the app to start your World Cup, kicking off with that wind-related goalkeeper quandary -- let us know in the comments how many you get right:

In extremely windy weather, a goalkeeper with a renowned long throw hurls the ball upfield. It's caught by a freak gust of wind, and bounces over the stunned opposition keeper into the back on the net. Do you give the goal?

A. Disallow goal and take another goal kick
B. Disallow goal and restart with dropped ball
C. Award the goal providing no infringement has occurred

Answer: C. Award a goal, provided that no infringement of the Laws has been committed by the team scoring the goal before the ball enters the net.

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At half-time you drank a lot of water. There are 10 minutes to go and you are now desperate to use the toilet. You risk embarrassing yourself on live television. Do you: A. Leave the field at the next stoppage in play B. Stop the play and leave the field C. Leave the field with an assistant referee in charge while play continues? Answer: A. At the next stoppage in play, advise your colleagues to observe the players while you leave the field for a comfort break. Restart play as normal when you return.

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A supporter blows a whistle in the crowd. A defender inside his own area picks up the ball, assuming that play has been stopped by the referee. Opponents bay for a penalty. What action do you take? A. Award a penalty B. Take no action and allow play to restart with a goal kick C. Stop play due to outside interference Answer: C. Stop play because of outside interference and restart the match with a dropped ball from the place where the player picked the ball up. You should also liaise with security officers to ask that they apprehend the culprit.

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You've awarded a penalty. Just as the penalty taker is about to strike the ball, an opponent shouts out a remark about the penalty taker's wife. In his fury, the taker slips and miskicks the ball wide. What action do you take? A. Caution player and restart with goal kick B. Caution player and restart play with retaken penalty C. Take no action and restart with goal kick Answer: B. If you consider that the defender has committed an act of unsporting behaviour, caution the offender and restart play with a retaken penalty kick.