Category: Law 4 – Equipment

Law 4 – Equipment

Advice to Referees

RE-ENTRY AFTER EQUIPMENT CORRECTION; CHANGE TO ADVICE 4.6

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Question:
I have a question concerning when a player, who has been instructed to leave the filed by the referee for an equipment problem, can return to the field.
LOTG law 4, page 19 states that the player can only re-enter the field when the ball is out of play.
Advice to referees, par 4.6 page 20 states that the player can re-enter the field when the ball is in play as long as the player enters from the touchline. I don’t understand what to do if faced with this situation.

USSF Answer (March 25, 2010:
Several years ago the Federation decided to support a slight divergence between itself and FIFA on this matter, based on a related instruction from FIFA which emphasized the importance of bringing teams back to their full strength as quickly as possible when one of the players was off the field, without substitution, for an injury and, in such cases, the referee could beckon that player to return to the field during play rather than having to wait for a stoppage. Your question inspired us to revisit the matter. The result is that as of this date Advice 4.6 has been amended to read as follows (all original text following the first paragraph remains as it was):

4.6 INCORRECT UNIFORM OR EQUIPMENT
Instructing a player to leave the field to correct an illegal uniform or equipment does not require a report by the referee as this is not a “send-off” for misconduct. The inspection to confirm that the correction has been made is conducted by the referee or, if delegated by the referee in the pregame conference, by the fourth official or an assistant referee if a fourth official has not been appointed. The player must receive a signal from the referee before actually re-entering the field and may do so only during a stoppage.

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Law 18 - Common Sense

PROPER PLAYER UNIFORMS

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Question:
When in a match can you wear small white socks over the original colours of your kit like so many players do in the premiership?

USSF answer (February 16, 2010):
In theory, never, unless all players on a side wear them. Each player’s kit (other than the goalkeeper’s) is expected to be exactly like his/her teammates’ kit as regards color and the color of any under- or overgarments. For answers pertaining to the EPL, you should direct your question to the appropriate authorities.…

Law 4 - Equipment

STOCKINGS AND ANKLE TAPE

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Question:
I have a quick question regarding Stockings and ankle tapes.
http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/affederation/bodies/01/02/18/76/2009-12-ifabagenda2009-e.pdf
Point 3, Law 4.

German DFB has this as a rule that the ankle tape over 1-2cm has to be the same color than the stocking. Yet I don’t see this on any FA player.

Can anyone clarify this, maybe with a link to the IFAB’s decision regarding this?

USSF answer (August 17, 2009):
The item in the IFAB agenda regarding stockings and ankle tapes was simply a proposal by the Scottish Football Association for a change in Law 4. The proposal was not accepted and thus the Law was not changed to include it.

The German Football Federation (DFB) has made its own ruling on ankle tape. This does not apply to other countries nor to international games played in Germany.…

Law 1 - The Field

DIGGING HOLES AND MAKING KICKING TEES

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Question:
game u13g a player is desinated to kick all free and goal kicks. in doing so she constanly would use her heel of her boot to dig a hole so she would place the ball next to the hole so she would get a good lift on the ball
I could not find any thing on the FIFA rule book that is ok, or not.

USSF answer (July 15, 2009):
Creating a hole either behind the ball or to mound up dirt to create a “tee” is illegal.  While you will find nothing specific to this particular situation in the Laws of the Game, it must not be permitted, and there a number of reasons for that.

The first is the established principle that players may not make unauthorized marks on the field.  Although this is aimed mostly at goalkeepers who scuff lines around their area to assist them in “locating” themselves, there is no functional difference between scuffing lines and digging holes.  Second, digging a hole is potentially dangerous, unless one assumes that the player becomes responsible for immediately “replacing the divot” after the kick is taken.  So for safety reasons this is not allowed.  Third, creating such a hole and tee is a form of “artificial aid” to assist play — and that is considered misconduct (using a teammate’s shoulders, hanging on the crossbar to make the save, trapping the ball with the shirt, etc.).  Fourth, though a bit more of a stretch of logic, if a player cannot move or remove a corner flag for the taking of a corner kick, why would we allow the digging of a hole (or stubbing the toe into the dirt to create a “tee”) for the taking of a free kick?  Fifth, would we allow this for the taking of a penalty kick?  If not, then why would it be allowed for other kicking restarts?…

"Inventive" Refs

SAFETY FIRST, PLEASE!

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Question:

On 6/16/06, you wrote the following:

“In those competitions that do not provide for water breaks, the spirit of the game requires the referee to ensure the safety of the players. Preventing injury from heat exhaustion would fall into that aspect of the referee’s duties. The answer may be summed up in two words: common sense.

“In fact, both the referee and the team officials share in the responsibility to protect player safety. The referee could, at a stoppage called for any reason, “suggest” the taking of water by any players interested in doing so. The timing of such a break and its length would be at the discretion of the referee. Obviously, the referee could decide to take this approach on his or her own initiative, with or without prior consultation with the coaches.

“However, either or both coaches could approach the referee prior to the match and suggest the need for extra hydration, in which case the intelligent referee would be well advised to listen and act accordingly.”

– –  In the past few days, a referee has claimed that these instructions have now been superseded by the USSF and that a referee cannot suggest a water break or even allow a break when the ball is out of play – no matter how hot the day or how young the players – unless it is in the tournament rules. Is he correct that things have changed or is the opinion from June of 2006 still valid?

I hope that you can address this quickly with the hottest part of summer approaching. The health or even the lives of some young players might be at risk.

Thanks.

USSF answer (July 13, 2009):
The opinion of the United States Soccer Federation remains the same as it was in 2006:  The safety of the players comes first and referees are expected to see to it that players are protected in every way possible.

Addendum:  It is possible that you may have been distracted by some controversy over an incident in a professional game.  Those are adults, playing other adults, all of them aware of what is going on.  Referees are not to order water breaks at professional games and should apply common sense at other levels.…

"Only in America!"

UNIFORM UNIFORMITY

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Question:
We understand that recreational, youth and even high school soccer teams sometimes get creative with their uniform design. 

Adult and U20 soccer teams uniform question is whether all players (with the exception of the goal keeper) must wear the same color socks ON BOTH LEGS.

We dont see anthing on ATRLOTG that specifies BOTH socks on players legs having to be the same color. If the entire team is wearing one color on one leg and a different color on the other, is this within the spirit of the game? Can this be considered taunting? Unsporting? 

Does it stand true that as long as the team uniform is “uniform” regardless of the pattern, color or fashion statement.

Is there a presidence or guidance on this from USSF regarding adult matches? Or any match for that matter? Shouldnt the referee focus be on equipment safety not whether its a fashion statement or particularly odd (or uncommon) to see but within the guidelines of Law 4?

USSF answer (May 11, 2009):
This answer was sent out in 2008:

USSF answer (May 7, 2008):
There is indeed a requirement for uniformity of socks. While nothing is specifically written in Law 4 regarding the color of socks, tradition and common practice dictate that all members of a team (with the possible exception of the goalkeeper) wear socks of the same color, rather than each wearing his or her own choice or wearing socks of one color on one foot and socks of a different color on the other foot.

The ruling will be found in the USSF publication “Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game,” which is based on the Laws, memoranda from FIFA and the International F. A. Board, and in memoranda and policy papers published by the United States Soccer Federation.

4.1 WEARING UNIFORMS
It is implicit in the Law that each side wear a distinctively colored jersey, that shorts and socks be uniform for each team, and that the uniforms be distinguishable from the uniforms worn by the other team. However, the details of the uniform are governed by the competition authority and can vary widely from one match to another. The referee must know and enforce the rules of each competition worked. Players’ jerseys must remain tucked inside their shorts, socks must remain pulled up, and each player must wear shinguards under the socks. All undergarments (slide pants, undershirts, etc.) which extend visibly beyond the required uniform must be as close as possible in color to the main color of the uniform part under which they are worn.

All players must wear jerseys or shirts that distinguish them from the referee and assistant referees. If the colors are the same, the players, not the referees, must change.

Remember that jersey/shirt and shorts must be two separate items, not a single unit.

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"Inventive Coaches"

COACH/REFEREE UNINFORMED RE UNIFORMS

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Question:
I had the distinct pleasure of working with our up and coming youth officials as an AR in a U12B game. I sincerely hope that the coach/referee reads this site and you feel it is pertinent enough to post the question and supply the answer.
It was a tournament game with games back to back. The referee and AR were fairly new so they only had the yellow shirt. The coach of the yellow team (solid yellow jerseys), 3 minutes before game time (when we had been there inspecting the nets/players for a few minutes) introduced himself to the referee and demanded that the crew change jerseys because of the confusion it has caused all tournament and season, for that matter. He claimed that he, too, was a registered official and had all the secondary colored referee jerseys in case of conflict. The young referee stated that he did not have an alternate color jersey nor was it practical to run back to the referee tent (far far away) and try to find someone who could loan us two shirts because the games had to run on time. We did a check of both teams while they were warming up but they had on black warm ups so we did not assume that they would have yellow jerseys. It was our error that we did not ask t o! see the color of the uniforms. But, the stripes in our shirts clearly delineated us from the team and has done so in the past when there was a “conflict”. The coach went ballistic and claimed that since we were all professionals, we were required to have alternate colors. He said that, despite the two officials being young that all officials were required to have alternate jerseys!! He yelled at me (because I have all the gold on my badge, I guess) and said that there had to be five distinct colors on the field. We resolved it because we found 3 pennies to wear so, that indeed, gave us five distinct colors. The game started on time.
At half time, the coach substituted his goalkeeper. The new goalkeeper had a jersey the same color as the opponents. I called it to the referee’s attention before the second half began. The coach was livid! He claimed that he did not have another jersey because the previous goalkeeper did not want to loan his jersey to the replacement. He was gently reminded that there needed to be five distinct colors on the field. He huffed and puffed and threatened to file a complaint about our being “unreasonable” and overstepping our authority. We did not start the second half until he satisfied the color requirement. The next tournament game on our field started on time.
Question: What are the requirements for youth officials regarding alternate jerseys? They are local officials and there are no yellow teams in our area. Parents are very upset at the start up costs for just the starter kit and are reluctant to put out anymore money because it is not clear which alternate jersey to buy since you would conflict with most teams, anyway.
Oh, the yellow team lost the game and apparently had a losing tournament.

USSF answer (May 7, 2009):
As a referee, the coach should KNOW that the Law requires the teams to change so as not to conflict with the referees. (After all, who started wearing black jerseys and thus took away what used to be “the referee color”?)

Referees, particularly at the beginning of their career, are required to have only a gold jersey. If they can afford to buy more colors, good for them, but they do not have to. It was very kind of your crew to find some pinnies to borrow and thus do the yellow team a major favor. The referee on your game would have been justified in requiring the yellow team to change its jerseys. And the referee was also justified in insisting that the goalkeeper change, if only because the coach/referee was a pain.

There are times when the goalkeepers may wear the same color as one another, but they must make every effort to wear a different color than the opposing team’s field players.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

REFEREE WEARING A KNEE BRACE

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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.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

COLOR OF PLAYER UNDERGARMENTS

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Question:
In an English Championship league fixture, Michael Duberry was asked to remove his white under-shorts as they clashed with the all orange Reading strip. I recall this ruling coming in during the 1990s when multicolored “cycle shorts” became the rage, and it was made mandatory to match them to the teams shorts in terms of color. I also recall reading a FA ref manual that states something to the effect that they “must not extend below the knee”, which would outlaw the full length tights worn by Giggs, Ronaldo and John Barnes. Is this rule still in place? And what about the sleeve color of under shirts (with the new trend of short-sleeve club shirts with lycra under shirts, must they match?)

USSF answer (December 22, 2008):
Law 4 tells us:
Basic Equipment
The basic compulsory equipment of a player comprises the following separate items:
– a jersey or shirt with sleeves- if undergarments are worn, the color of the sleeve shall be the same main color as the sleeve of the jersey or shirt
– shorts – if undershorts are worn, they are of the same main color as the shorts

Shorts by definition do not extend below the knee — at least not nowadays.

The tights worn by players do not fall into the category of shorts and should not be treated as shorts.

Referees need to exercise common sense and not go out of their way to upset the other participants over trifling matters.…

Law 4 - Equipment

JERSEY NUMBERS

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Question:
Can you help me find a official reference to a requirement that players must have jersey numbers and a specific reference that they must be different numbers?

I was at a college showcase over the weekend and the “tournament” allowed for up to 6 guest players.  It was obvious that teams took liberty with this, allowing younger “club mates” and less skilled “club mates” from other teams in the club replace members that could not make it.  Trouble with this was many had same numbers as team mates, or no numbers at all.  Also some jerseys were markedly different (same colors as team, but reversed as though they only had away jerseys) but did not conflict with the other team at all.

Coaches didn’t complain because of the friendly nature of the showcase, and while there normally isn’t the number of occurrences that happened in this case, there’s certainly more objection in league play.

League or competition rules may specify, but according to USSF I could not find a passage in the laws or in the advice to point to these rules. I would love to have in my bag the highlighted passage from an official document from USSF (if there is one)

Questions:
–  Must a player have a jersey number on the jersey?
–  Must it be different from all other numbers teams present?
–  Any special rules for goalkeeper clothing?
–  Must all jerseys be the exact same color scheme? (I am assuming in this question that the variances satisfy the requirement stated in the “advice” book in distinguishing themselves from the keepers, the other team, and the referee)

USSF answer (December 2, 2008):
A reminder that we don’t do college or high school rules here, and we certainly do not do “showcases,” which are nothing but what their name suggests, a game where players are paraded before coaches like pigs, sheep, or cattle at a country fair.

You will find nothing in the Laws of the Game or in the Advice to Referees for a good reason: Numbers and uniform details are governed by the rules of whatever competition they are being used in, not in the Laws. You will find such details in the rules of the various cup competitions played under the aegis of the USSF and USYS, and in the rules of college and high school soccer; however, In the case of “showcase” games, there will likely be no rules at all.

The Laws cover uniforms only in so far as teams must wear uniforms that are different in color from those of the opponents and of the officials (who do not need to change at all; the teams must change).…