"Inventive" Refs

‘KEEPER’S RIGHTS

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Question:
I have a question regarding the rights a keeper has to attempt to collect or parry a ball within his own penalty area.

I have been a referee for many years and have been told many conflicting thoughts on a keeper’s “rights” within his own penalty area. I have always worked games under the thought that a keeper has no “special” rights within their area, other than to use their hands to collect the ball.

I was watching a high school boy’s game this week where a situation occurred between the keeper and an attacker that I thought was mishandled and would like your thoughts so that I better understand the “Laws”.

The situation was:

The attacking team had a free kick from outside the defending team’s penalty area. When play restarted, the attacking team put the play in play by kicking the ball into the penalty area where many players, both attacking and defending players, were waiting to try to play the ball. The keeper came out of his goal area and jumped into (through) the mass of players and successfully parried the ball away before the ball reached the head of an attacker. The attacking player had already established his position and had jumped straight up to try to head the ball towards the goal. The keeper, however, went “through” the attacker while trying to parry the ball causing injury to the attacking player (the attacking player left the field and did not return). I believed that the keeper had committed a penal foul for which a penalty kick should be awarded. At a minimum, I believed the keeper’s conduct should be considered a dangerous play for which an indirect free kick should have been awarded.

After the game had concluded, I questioned the center as to why no foul was called. His reasoning was that a keeper had a right to the ball within his own penalty area and cannot be penalized in his own area. I know there are a number of infractions whereby the penalty or restart are different if committed by a keeper in his own penalty area… but I have never heard of such a rule that protects a keeper in this way.

Can you please comment on what “rights” a keeper has within in his penalty area and whether or not a keeper can receive a penal foul (for which a penalty kick is awarded) or a caution within their own area? Also, I would like your thoughts on the proper call given the scenario described above.

USSF answer (October 15, 2008):
On October 2, 2008, we included this information on a ‘keeper’s rights in an answer: “All players are entitled to the same protection under the Laws of the Game. The goalkeeper has no right to special protection. The goalkeeper’s role is, by the very requirements of that role, inherently dangerous. Goalkeepers know this going in and most operate accordingly.” The goalkeeper does have the right to be able to release the ball back into general play without interference. That and the right to wear some special protective equipment not permitted to other players is about it.

We would suggest that your referee was operating under a misapprehension. If the goalkeeper commits an infringement of the Laws, he or she must be punished just like any other player.…

Law 5 - Referee

MECHANICS

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Question:
Situation in a adult league game.

Attacking team has one player (A1) in an offside position. At the first look it does not look like the player will be involved in the game, the AR1 waits with the signal.
CR looks at him, sees no signal, play goes on. Player A1 goes for the ball and gets it , AR1 raises the flag CR does not see it. Ball gets directly from A1 taken away by a player of team B.

Team B takes the ball up and runs up the field. AR remains in “flag up”  position, as according to him the player A1 was clearly offside and involved.
AR2  raises his flag also (mirroring the other AR). CR does not react to the signal, as attacking team B goes ahead and scores.

After the scoring of team B, CR “asks” AR 2, which points to AR 1. CR talks with AR 1, gets the information about the offside and decides the goal stands.

Reasoning ” If I had seen the signal I had waived you down anyway, the offside did end in an advantage for team B”.

Can you please let me know if CR reacted right or wrong? For anything else but the offside the situation had been clear, game was interrupted with the foul etc, no goal.
Can you please shed some more light?

USSF answer (October 7, 2008):
The referee’s action was correct, but the explanation was incorrect. The referee cannot apply advantage to an offside situation, but may certainly decide that there is no (longer) an offside situation — which was quite clear in this case after the transfer of possession of the ball to team B.

Furthermore, in the absence of specific instructions to the contrary in the pregame, the AR should have promptly dropped the flag the moment the ball was clearly controlled by the defenders.…

Coach

DEALING WITH TEAM OFFICIALS (AGAIN)

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Question:
say a coach is showing minimal dissent due to his players being abused. Then the ref comes over and tells him “this is your final warning” and the coach asks “what was my first warning?” and the ref shows a yellow card. Then the coach asks him why he was carded for asking a question and then the ref shows the red card to the coach and he is ejected. Is the referee just in 1. showing a card to a coach and 2. passing out cards for such minor offenses

USSF answer (October 7, 2008):
Unless the rules of your competition require it, there is no reason or legal basis whatsoever to show a card of any color to a coach or other person affiliated with a team who is not a player, a substitute, or a substituted player.

Law 5 tells us that the referee:

– takes disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable and sending-off offenses. He is not obliged to take this action immediately but must do so when the ball next goes out of play
– takes action against team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and may, at his discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds

NOTE: We cannot endorse the referee’s method of dealing with the coach. Coaches, no matter how pushy and obnoxious they may be, are entitled to the same courteous and considerate treatment as the referee would give to any other person.…

Law 3 - Players

SUBSTITUTIONS IN U6 SOCCER

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Question:
I know what the rule book reads for substitutions, but how does it apply to U6 division?

Meaning should subs only be allowed when the ball is out of play?

Chris Hiett

USSF answer (October 7, 2008):
While we have no idea whether or not your league/state association/club uses the official rules promulgated by U. S. Youth Soccer, we can tell you what the USYS U6 Rules say:

Law 3 – The Number of Players: A match is played by two teams, each consisting of not more than three players. There are NO goalkeepers.
Substitutions: At any stoppage and unlimited.
Playing time: Each player SHALL play a minimum of 50% of the total playing time. Teams and games may be coed.

…
Coach

DEALING WITH TEAM OFFICIALS

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Question:
I was substitute refereeing a U15 game (the other ref couldn’t make it). And during the first half one of the teams coaches was just yelling at me from the sidelines, that I was missing handballs and aggressive pushing (there was a couple I missed but nothing game changing). But at half-time while I was talking to my boss (he was informing me that there are only suppose to be two coaches on a side per team) the “yelling coach” came over and just started criticizing me, my fellow ref, and our local soccer organization. We tried to explain to him that we are just kids so we do not have the ability to see everything, but he just couldn’t stop.

In the process he ended up wasting 15 minutes of halftime and reduced the other ref into tears. We told him that if he has problems he should file a complaint or talk to us after the game. He stepped off the field and sat with the parents the rest of the game.

So my questions are:
Could we have handled it better?
Is it possible to just call the game due to the coach?

and please keep in mind I am only 16 and have been reffing for two seasons.

USSF answer (October 7, 2008):
No ageism here, sir. We treat all referees as equals. Well, maybe not those whose associations put them on two-referee games, which are not allowed under the Laws of the Game. To them we recommend that they either convince their association to use the Diagonal System of Control (one referee and two assistant referees) or find another association that does.

Not forgetting your question, we can state simply that you should have told this “coach” to get back to his team area immediately and not to bother you before, during, or after the game. If he had a problem, he is welcome, as you clearly told him, to submit a report to your association and to the state organization, but he is not welcome to interfere with your work or your break at halftime. If he persists after this notification, then you should use the power granted you by Law 5 and take action against the coach or any other team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner. That means that you may, at your discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate vicinity.…

Law 6 - Other Officials

FORMER OPPONENTS AS ASSISTANT REFEREES IN NEXT GAME!

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Question:
Saturday morning our Team played a very heated game in a competitive league. A yellow card was given to the other team; game became very physical and our team ended up winning 3-0. Approximately 3 hours later we had another game in a separate location. The two line refs that were provided were on the team we played and beat earlier that morning. Their coach is actually in charge of the soccer at that particular location. Is this legal? The girls were spotted snickering and laughing as they walked past our team. These refs are in the same age bracket and same division.

USSF answer (October 7, 2008):
While it is regrettable that your team had to have assistant referees who had been your opponents earlier in the day, we are certain that any referee or assistant referee affiliated with the U. S. Soccer Federation would give nothing but a fair and competent performance.…

Law 6 - Other Officials

AR SIGNALS

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Question:
Assistant Referee mechanics on signaling a defensive foul in the penalty area. Since both FIFA in the 2008/2009 LOTG interpretation and guidance, and USSF in a Memorandum in May 2008 have issued instructions on AR signals for a foul in the penalty area, I would like some advice to see if my interpretation is correct. The FIFA LOTG states that an AR who sees a foul that would result in a penalty kick, but is not seen by the Referee, should make eye contact with the Referee, raise his flag, and then move briskly to the corner flag. On the other hand, the USSF memorandum states that an AR should indicate that a foul signaled by the Referee has been committed in the penalty area by raising his flag horizontally at waist height. In order to correctly instruct my Assistant Referees I want to be sure: the FIFA instructions are for a foul in the penalty area seen and indicated by the Assistant Referee. The USSF instructions are to indicate to the referee, who has already signaled the foul, that the foul is in the Penalty Area.

USSF answer (October 6, 2008):
Not quite correct, but there is a difference in mechanics between when the referee signals a foul and when the assistant referee signals a foul. In addition, at present there are two possible signals for the assistant referee to make, depending on the level of play.

Referee signals a foul:

  • No further AR action is needed beyond getting in position for the restart (unless the referee requests assistance in enforcing the minimum distance)
  • If the referee, after stopping play, makes obvious eye contact with the AR, the referee is asking for assistance in locating the foul (probably because the referee saw the foul but was too far away to be sure about whether it was inside or outside the penalty area)
    • If in the AR’s opinion, the offense occurred outside the penalty area, stand still with the flag held straight down at the side (left hand, assuming a standard diagonal)
    • If in the AR’s opinion, the offense occurred inside the penalty area, stand still with the flag held horizontally between the hands (new signal as of 2008)
    • Maintain the signal until acknowledged by the referee

AR signals a direct free kick foul inside the penalty area by a defender:

  • Flag straight up
  • Eye contact with referee
  • Brief waggle of the flag
  • If referee waves it down:
    • Drop flag
    • Maintain the offside position as play will be continuing
  • If referee stops play:
    • Drop flag
    • Begin moving toward corner

For the highest-level games (MLS and USL) there is another signal, one outlined in a position paper published by USSF in May 2008 and reinforced in the Week in Review WIR 27:

If the AR was of the opinion the foul occurred inside the penalty area and therefore a penalty kick should be awarded, the AR should raise and wiggle the flag and then – after the referee’s whistle – indicate that the foul occurred in the penalty area by holding the flag across his waist mimicking the substitution signal.

We will reconcile these different signals and instructions in the next (2009) edition of the Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials. In the meanwhile, the matter should be covered thoroughly in the pregame conference among the match officials.…

Law 10 - Scoring

BALL OR ‘KEEPER OR BOTH?

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Question:
During a recent U-11 girls soccer game, our goalie was positioned on the goal line when she caught and maintained the ball at chest level. However, within a second or two of catching the ball, she took one step backwards to regain her balance but continued to maintain her hold on the ball. No one thought anything of it, the goalie came out of the box to punt the ball, the other teams parents did not react to this in any negative way, nor did the center (main) ref question that pay continue. However, the side line ref called raised his flag saying that the goalie crossed the line, therefore it counts as a goal for the other team, even though she maintained possession of the ball.

I am seriously confused by this. Numerous times we see professional goalie catch the ball within their goal box and behind their line and it is NOT counted as a goal. The only specific rules I can find are Law 10 that says the ball must completely cross over the line, but no where does it define whether a goal can be made if it is caught prior to crossing the line but if a goal takes a step backwards after the catch is made.

Could you please tell me if there have been any clarifications to this rule or previous precedents set that would clarify this?

USSF answer (October 3, 2008):
Law 10 (The Method of Scoring) tells us:
Goal Scored
A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no infringement of the Laws of the Game has been committed previously by the team scoring the goal.

This means that any time the ball, while still in play, completely crosses the goal line between the goalposts and beneath the crossbar, a goal is scored. It makes no difference if the ball goes there from a shot, a deflection, or is carried there by the goalkeeper. Conversely, no goal is scored if only the goalkeeper and not the entire ball crosses the goal line.…

Advantage

EARLY WHISTLE?

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Question:
The recent events in the NFL made me think of writing in to discuss a call from several years ago:

In a recreation level tournament, I was involved in the following call and while I think I blew the call, I want to get your opinion. In a well played but very aggressive match at the U-17 level(several yellows had already been issued to both teams), with less than 5 minutes left in the second period, player A1 was fouled while on the attack just outside the penalty box. Player B1 was called for the foul (not serious enough to warrant a card) and Team B proceed to set up a wall in preparation for the direct free kick. Player A1 asked for his 10 yards, so when I walked it off, it put the wall of Team B inside the penalty box. As player A1 took the shot, one of the players from Team B within the wall stepped forward toward player A1. I was the ref watching for any offside and as soon as the player from Team B stepped forward, I blew the whistle. The unfortunate thing is, the ball went into the net for what Team A thought was a score. In that split second, I realized that I blew the whistle too early and had to proceed forward from there. I waved off the goal, carded the player from Team B for the “failure to retire” and since the foul occurred within the penalty box, awarded Team A the penalty kick. Unfortunately, the shot off the penalty kick did not go in the net. One of  my question is this, while I know there is no such things as a delayed foul, could I have applied “advantage”, waited to see what happen to the shot, and then carded the player on Team B for “failure to retire” and re-awarded the direct free kick which as a result of the foul would have made it a penalty kick? Am I correct that while the ball is in actively in play, any whistle basically immediately make the ball “DEAD”?  Team A did not need the goal that I waved off to win the match, but I went up to the Coach of Team A and explained myself as best as possible with regards to the fact that I felt like I blew the call.

USSF answer (October 3, 2008):
You are correct that the whistle stops play and we were with you until you awarded the penalty kick. Whatever for?? The correct restart was a retake of the original direct free kick. As we state in the USSF publication “Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game,” Advice 13.3: “If one or more opponents fail to respect the required distance before the ball is properly put into play, the referee should stop the restart to deal with this infringement as required by the Law. The free kick must be retaken even if the momentum of play causes the ball to be kicked before the referee signals.”

And the entire problem would have never come up if you hadn’t whistled too soon. Consider holding off a moment unless there is some mischief that MUST be dealt with NOW.…

"Inventive" Refs

RULES OF COMPETITION BRING ABOUT UNSPORTING TACTICS

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Question:
I was center referee for a U14G Class I Select tournament game this weekend. Standings for the tournament were based on points for each flight’s round robin games. This particular event deducted a game point if the goal differential was greater than four. Shutouts also earned an extra point, but that didn’t factor into this game.

During the course of this game, one team had a clear advantage over the other. At a certain point during the second half, they exceeded the 4 goal differential limit by a score of 6-1. Not wanting to hurt their game points in the standings, they allowed their opponents to score a free goal with no pressure at all–the entire team stood like statues (6-2). They scored another goal and then repeated the process (7-3).

Clearly at this point the team which was behind got very frustrated with these tactics. However, since they were complicit by scoring the freebie goals, I just kept on with my normal referee duties. And yet again, the team scored bringing the score up to 8-3. The losing team put the ball into play, but their players didn’t actually challenge for the ball. The winning team did not want to lose their point, so they dribbled down and scored an own goal against themselves (8-4).

The sidelines got extremely verbal at this point.

The coach of the losing team called his players off to stand on their side of midfield and everyone just stood around. After 10-15 seconds, I told the center forward to put the ball into play. After she did, I blew the whistle and ended the game 2 minutes prior to the actual end time.

After the game, there was a lot of complaints about sportsmanship from the losing team, and a lot of grousing about the rules of the tournament from the winning team. I kept the situation under control, but it should have never gotten to that point.

So my question is this: What is the best way to handle this situation? As referee, my decisions shouldn’t really be informed by the scoring rules of the tournament, but I need to be able to control a potentially inflammatory situation. It’s not a good position to be in.

The center referee for the following game and I talked about the situation later; he had seen it unfold. His suggestion was to issue a yellow card to the captains of the winning team for unsporting behavior once they stopped playing defense and letting their opponents score. This would send a signal to the coach that this behavior is not tolerated. I suppose this could be considered “acting in a manner which shows a lack of respect for the game” but I’m not quite convinced there isn’t a better way.

Any suggestions? (Besides eliminating the goal differential rule for an event of this caliber)

USSF answer (October 2, 2008):
The referee who accepts a game in such a competition thereby accepts the rules of the competition, no matter how incredible they may seem, and has no authority to act in such a situation. He or she simply includes full details in the match report.

That means no cautions for reasons not covered by the Law of the Game, no lectures, no pleading. Just put it in the report. Let the competition authority defend its own rules.…