WHO TAKES OVER FOR REFEREE UNABLE TO CONTINUE?

March 24, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
I had this happen to me while being the Referee of a tournament game this past weekend. It was the second half (about 15 minutes remaining in the match) and I was sprinting across the field on a fast play and I got a cramp in my calf. At first it slowed me quite a bit and I hobbled around for about 45 seconds and was able to work it out without stopping the game.

So, my question is what would be the appropriate action to take if the Referee becomes unable to finish the match? Do one of the AR’s take over or is the match called if it is in the 2nd half?

USSF answer (March 24, 2009):
Unless the rules of the competition specify otherwise, the senior assistant referee (AR) takes over if the referee is unable to complete the match.

If there is no competent person to assume the duties of the senior AR, the new referee and the junior AR work the game alone. However, there is no change in authority; the referee remains in full control. The referee works one side of the field, the AR the other, but only the referee is permitted to use a whistle and retains all duties and powers granted by Law 5.…

Law 12 - Fouls & Misconduct

MISCONDUCT AFTER WHISTLE FOR PENALTY KICK

March 21, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
In the final few minutes of a tied match the referee correctly awards a normal PK to the blue team.

The whistle signal to begin the PK occurs first.

Then, out of sight of the referee, outside the penalty area, a red defender deliberately kicks the ankle of a blue attacker. The PK is taken but initially saved by the keeper; however, the rebound is fought for. In a bit of scruffy ping-pong play the ball eventually winds up inside the red goal. Referee was good to go with the goal and a kick off but when he looks over to the lead AR to confirm, he sees the AR has raised his flag pointing across to the trail AR. By now a blue attacker is retaliating against the red defender punching him, so the referee is briefly unaware that the raised flag was to mirror the TRAIL AR who witnessed the kicking offense! After the MESS is discussed and the dust settles the referee disallows the goal, retakes the PK and only cautions the defender who kicked and the attacker who punched!

The retaken PK is saved and the game ends tied.

If you were referee what would you have done differently, if anything at all?

USSF answer (March 21, 2009):
The defender’s action had no part to play in the penalty kick, so there has been no violation of the procedure for taking a penalty kick — and, even if did, the violation would fall under the “violation by defender but the ball went into the net so it counts” rule. The defender’s action occurred during a stoppage of play (remember, the whistle had been blown but it appears the ball had not yet been put into play) — thus, it is not a foul and therefore advantage cannot be applied to it. The referee has until the next stoppage to take care of it, but in this case the next stoppage is for the goal scored from the penalty kick and the subsequent play.

Accordingly:
(1) goal counts
(2) “deliberately kicks the ankle” sounds like violent conduct, so send off the defender
(3) although poorly constructed,the following “By now a blue attacker is retaliating against the red defender punching him” seems to mean that that the blue attacker was punching the red defender in retaliation (because the red defender didn’t punch him, he kicked him in the ankle) so the blue attacker should be sent off for violent conduct because this occurred during a stoppage of play. If we have read the sentence incorrectly, then the blue attacker might not get a red card for VC but he surely gets some card for retaliating.
(4) Restart with a kick-off…

Law 12 - Fouls & Misconduct

DOUBLE CAUTION FOR EXCESS CELEBRATION?

March 21, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
This question is based (at least loosely) on events in a recent professional match in Italy (Serie A). Late in a scoreless game, a player scores a goal. In his celebration, he removes his shirt — normally cause for a caution. He then runs to the nearest corner flag, lifts the flag, and waves it in the air — normally a cause for a caution. Should a referee consider these acts to be part of one extended, excessive celebration and therefore caution the exuberant player once? Or should a referee consider this two separate acts, each worthy of a caution? Or something else?

[In the actual game, I’m not sure whether the player who pulled out the corner flag was the goal scorer who had removed his shirt. He was certainly part of a celebratory mob at the corner.)

USSF answer (March 21, 2009):
Unless there is some truly overwhelming reason to send off this person in the hypothetical situation of demonstrating his jubilation at the scoring of a goal, a caution for unsporting behavior should be sufficient.…

Advantage

GOALKEEPER HANDLING VS. ADVANTAGE

March 21, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
If a goalkeeper is in possession of the ball with his hands and is fouled by means of “pushing” and the push sends him out of the penalty area (still holding the ball), but the keeper very quickly throws the ball up to midfield to a wide open attacker who can move towards goal, can advantage be applied and play be allowed to continue under these circumstances?

Law 5 states: the referee is to allow play to continue when the team against which an offense has been committed will benefit from such an advantage.

Since there is no way you would ever call the deliberate handling infraction, wouldn’t requiring the goal keeper to put the ball to the ground for a free kick take away the advantage? And since Handling must be deliberate it could be argued that the keeper never INTENTIONALLY handled the ball as he was forced from the penalty area against his will.

USSF answer (March 21, 2009):
No, no matter how much the situation may invite it, the referee cannot invoke the advantage clause in this case. The original foul must be called and the opponent at least admonished for the infringement. Of course, if the force of the push was excessive — and if it actually resulted in the goalkeeper being moved a yard or so outside the penalty area, that would seem to be the only conclusion possible — the opponent would also be sent off for using excessive force. The reason for not invoking the advantage clause is that the referee would have to use it twice, first for the foul by the opponent and then again for the infringement by the goalkeeper, no matter that it was caused by the original foul. Call the original foul (and likely serious misconduct) and send off the opponent. Restart with a direct free kick for the goalkeeper’s team from within the penalty area.…

Coach

PROVIDING INFORMATION TO COACHES

March 18, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
Are coaches allowed to ask for clarification of a referees call that they did not understand.

Is it appropriate for a coach or player (besides a team captain) to approach a referee at say half-time or after conclusion of the game to ask a question for clarification of a call made by the referee during the game.

This goes to “are referees approachable” if so, when ?

USSF answer (March 18 2009):
Under the Laws of the Game, no coach or player may “question” the referee’s decision, nor must the referee provide any information other than what he or she puts in the match report.

That said, the referee could certainly respond to a reasonable approach by a coach after the game is over. The response should be succinct and polite. If the coach or any other person is not acting responsibly the referee should leave immediately and include pertinent details in the match report.…

Advice to Referees

CEREMONIAL RESTART ISSUE

March 18, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
During a recent amateur men’s league match where I was the referee, I called a foul against the defense and awarded a free kick about 25 yards from the goal line near the corner of the penalty area. The offense asked me to move the wall 10 yards and I informed the kicker to wait for my whistle. The kicker, a little over anxious, takes about 5 steps before kicking the ball. I blew the whistle to restart at about his 3rd step. The goalkeeper sprints out and punches the ball away which goes directly over the touch line on the opposite side of the field. At the time, I thought the kicker proceeding before the whistle and then my blowing the whistle may have been confusing to some players, so I ordered a retake. I took a little heat for it from the defense at the time.

In thinking about the decision, I though about Advice to Referees – 2007. In section 13.3, it states that the free kick must be retaken if the play is restarted prior to the signal. While the ball was not kicked yet, I had reasoned that play had begun because he had taken steps and was obviously going to kick it. Prior to the game, I had also looked at the 2009 Game Management model for MLS. In there it states that if the ball goes directly to the goalkeeper and he retains possession, let play continue. My scenario was slightly different. If I think about what was fair, I would have given a throw-in where the ball went out of touch after the keeper punched it. What advice can you give me? Thanks very much.

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
The defending team has only one right at a free kick. That right has nothing to to with a wall, nor to loiter in front of the kicker; it is to be allowed to play without distraction by the referee. That has certainly not occurred here. On the other hand, as we have often stated here, the kicking team does have the right to attempt to deceive their opponents at a free kick. We hereby reinforce the statement that “must wait for referee signal to take free kick” means exactly and only that — the ball cannot be kicked until the whistle sounds. Award the throw-in.…

"Inventive" Refs

DROPPED BALL

March 18, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
I recently observed a tournament game where the keeper on the defending team was on the ground holding the ball between his legs. The referee stopped play, ruled it a dropped ball, told the keeper “I am going to drop the ball and you pick it up.” Everything I have read and on the couple of incidents I have refereed and have had to call a dropped ball situation, the call was correct, in that is should have been a dropped ball situation, but the way in which the referee allowed it to play out was not correct. He did not have any member of the attacking team involved with the drop ball and should not have told the keeper he was going to drop it and for him to just pick it up. Both teams should have been involved. The keeper could legally be involved with the drop ball but the attacking team should have had an opportunity to play the ball after the drop.

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
You have not given us enough information for a single answer. There are at least two reasons that the goalkeeper might be on the ground with the ball between his legs: Either he is (a) injured and thus unable to rise or is (b) committing dangerous play and withholding the ball from play by others.

If the referee has had to stop the game because the goalkeeper was injured, then the correct restart is a dropped ball. If the referee has had to stop play because the goalkeeper was playing dangerously, then the correct restart would be an indirect free for the opposing team, from the place where the infringement occurred.

As to the manner of the dropped ball restart in the game you observed, you may have confused the Laws of the Game with the rules of high school soccer, which differ greatly regarding the dropped ball.

There is nothing in the Laws of the Game to specify that a dropped ball must be dropped between two opposing players.

Here is the text of Law 8 regarding the procedure for dropping the ball:

Dropped Ball
//snipped//
Procedure
The referee drops the ball at the place where it was located when play was stopped, unless play was stopped inside the goal area, in which case the referee drops the ball on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the ball was located when play was stopped.

Play restarts when the ball touches the ground.

You will note that no number of players is specified. While it is usual for the ball to be dropped between two opposing players, there is no requirement that this be the case at every dropped ball.

This differs from high school rules (National Federation of State High School Associations), which specify that the dropped ball must be taken with one — and only one — player from each team participating.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

REFEREE WEARING A KNEE BRACE

March 18, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
About five years ago while playing soccer I tore my ACL. I have yet to have surgery on it and recently became more accustomed to wearing my brace after having a bad incident while playing. My question relates to the uniform of the referee as the brace is rather large and cannot fit under the socks.

Should I referee with the sock pulled up and have the 3 white stripes hidden from view or should I have the 3 white stripes viewed from about halfway up the shin?

I would assume that hiding the 3 white stripes would be acceptable in this case as having the stripes in non-uniform positions would look awkward.

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
The common sense answer would be to wear the socks at their normal level and wear the brace over the socks if this is possible. And the knee brace must be safe enough so as not to be a danger to any of the participants.…

Guide to Procedures

PROPER MECHANICS AND PROCEDURE

March 15, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
I was an AR in a U19 match this week. The ball was in play near the endline, inside the 6-yard area. I judged a player to have been offside, about a yard off the endline, very shortly before the ball went out of play. I raised my flag to vertical, waited for the whistle, then lowered my flag to horizontal — to indicate offside in the middle third of the field. The center referee interpreted my signal as the ball having gone across the endline, off the attacking team, with a goal kick for the restart. The rules of the competition allowed for substitutions, so he turned and motioned them onto the field. From my vantage point, the ball actually was last touched by a defender, so had the offside not ocurred, the restart would have been a corner kick (with substitutions allowed by the rules of the competition). I did a quick evaluation, decided the difference was trifling, and let matters go on (which, at halftime, the center agreed was the best course of action). So, my first question is what should I have done differently as a mechanic to indicate that there was an offside infraction, rather than the ball going out of play? The difference seems trifling, from a practical standpoint, with the difference being a direct restart with no possibility of the now attacking team being offside direct from the kick, versus an IFK. And my second question is whether I’m missing anything in the nature of the restart — is this, for practical purposes, a trifling difference, not to be worried about?

Thanks,

USSF answer (March 15, 2009):
The referee made the first error in this scenario. The signal you gave was proper and should not have been interpreted as indicating a goal kick restart. If that had been the case, you would have been pointing the flag straight out when you and the referee made eye contact instead of being (as was the case here) held straight upward and followed by being held straight out. The only way your signal could have been an indication of a goal kick would be if the ball had left the field — unnoticed by the referee but seen by you — and returned to the field with players still actively playing it as though it had not left the field.

The general guideline, however, is that, given a choice between an offside violation in the area you indicated and a goal kick, FIFA and USSF both recommend going with the goal kick. The restarts in both cases are, for all practical purposes, equivalent and the latter occasions less need for explanation and is more readily accepted. This is not the case in your scenario where, if the indication for offside were not accepted, the restart would have been a corner kick instead of a goal kick. Here, the offside violation must be called. Since the referee misinterpreted your signal, it is incumbent upon you to make the misunderstanding known to the referee.

The argument that the goal kick is similar to the IFK restart for the offside cannot be accepted because the choice was not between offside and a goal kick, it was between offside and a corner kick. Furthermore, the offside restart would possibly not have allowed for substitutions whereas the goal kick restart did.…

"Only in America!"

MULTIPLE CAPTAINS? NOT A GOOD IDEA

March 15, 2009 by Jim Allen

Question:
I have recently encountered teams sending multiple players onto the field with a captain’s armband on. It is my understanding that there should be one captain per team, per match with an armband.

Thank you.

USSF answer (March 15x, 2009):
While the traditional number of captains per team is one, there is no limit in the Laws of the Game on the number of captains a team may appoint for each game.

However, as a practical matter, when a team sends more than one person out for the coin toss, the intelligent referee will ask who is the MAIN captain — the one to speak with if there is a problem (and that is the only one who should be recorded in the referee’s notebook). This is not American football, and we must distinguish between coming out for the coin toss and being officially recorded as THE captain. There should be only one player per team who is THE captain.…