Category: Law 7 – Duration

Law 7 – Duration

Guide to Procedures

STARTING THE WATCH

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Question:

As an AYSO Intermediate Ref, currently working on my Advanced Badge, I was reviewing your Guide to Proceedures.  Under the kick off section, on page 9, you indicate “…starts watch and signals for the kickoff to be taken”.  Is this really correct?  Law 8 states, and a prior instructor had taught me, that the game starts only once the kick off has been taken.  I was originally instructed that you don’t start your watch until the ball moves, as this indicates the start of the game.  Should the USSF Guide To Proceedures actually state “Signal for the kickoff to be taken; once taken, start watch”, or is your current Guide correct to indicate start the watch first?

Please advise,

USSF answer (July 17, 2009):
While we formerly taught that the referee should wait to start the watch until the ball had actually been put in play, we have found that this distracts the referee from watching all that goes on at the actual first kick in the kick-off process.  Therefore, we recommend that referees start their watch and then blow the whistle.  The referee is thus more assured of seeing everything that occurs as the ball is put into play.

If you are worried about the proper amount of time, you can always add that particular second to the time to be added at the end of the period.  Although many referees are encouraged NOT to add time by the rules of competition or by their own mistaken ideas, no game in the world has ever finished without the need for some amount of added time.  Time is lost for numerous reasons throughout each period of play.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

ENDING A PERIOD OF PLAY

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Question:

I am a fully qualified referee in [another country] and was recently spectating an U17 girl’s national championship match. At a guess, first-half time was almost expired. A player was hurt and had been receiving on-field medical attention for a couple of minutes while the ball was out of play (went out over the touchline). On resolving the player’s injury the referee blew her whistle for half-time. It was my understanding a referee can only blow their whistle for end of a half when the ball is in play? Am I right on this issue, or can a referee in fact signal the end of a half when the ball is out of play?
I’ve been researching this for a while because it would be helpful
to know the real ruling.

USSF answer (July 14, 2009):
While we cannot necessarily condone the referee’s allowing treatment on the field for a non-serious injury nor her not allowing additional time in the half (if there was still time left until the half truly ended), the whistle to signal the halftime break was probably okay.  It is a practical way to let everyone involved in the game know that the half is indeed over.

Except for time running out before a penalty kick can be taken, there is no requirement in the Law that a period of play cannot be ended with the ball not in play. Although many referees will attempt to discover “added time” for such restarts as a corner kick, the fundamental point is that, when time is up (including allowances for time lost due to excessively delayed restarts), it’s up. End it.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

THOSE NASTY RULES OF COMPETITION

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Question:
I made a very controversial call this past weekend in a tournament that caused a lot of controversy both on the field, and with some referees. Here is the situation.

Tournament game, 14 year old boys game. The competition rules stated no stoppage time except for the case of an injury. There had been no injuries in the second half, and the score was tied 1-1. An attacker has the ball in the corner close to the flag and I glance at my watch to see that the time has just expired. I begin to blow my whistle as he crosses the ball into the goal area where it slips past the keeper and is tapped in by a teammate, after the first whistle to end the game had been blown. I did not allow the goal, because time had expired. Needless to say, the coach of the team who was on the attack was not happy. I know it was a controversial decision, and I keep running it in my head. Would it have been more fair to extend play for the extra 2-3 seconds needed for the team to score? Or would that have been unfair to the defending team to give up a goal after the time had technically run out? I spoke with a state level referee who said I should have let the play continue for a couple seconds. If the attacking team scores, then end the game, or if the defending team collected the ball, then end it at that point. This seems to be a letter of the laws versus the spirit of the laws issue. What would have been the correct call according to US Soccer?

USSF answer (May 28, 2009):
A point we make consistently is that if the referee accepts an assignment in a competition, the referee also accepts the rules of the competition. Please note that the dynamics change when operating under a rule that gives the referee flexibility (unlike the tournament rule here).…

Law 18 - Common Sense

WHEN IS A MATCH OVER?

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Question:
When is a match complete when terminated? Specifically, if 1/2 the match is played, and weather, darkness, etc. require the match to be terminated, is it complete? Or must the second half be started? Can you cite the Law or Paragraph in ATR? I don’t see any.
This has been an argument for many years with fellow referees.
thank you.

USSF answer (May 1, 2009):
You won’t find it in the Laws or in the Advice to Referees for one simple reason: There is nothing there. This situation is governed by the rules of the competition under which the game is played. The FIFA rule for the competitions it sanctions is that the game must be replayed in its entirety. Many competitions required that at least half the game have been played before a game counts as completed. Other competitions have different requirements. Know the rules for every competition in which you officiate.…

"Inventive" Refs

SCORE GOAL AFTER WHISTLE?

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Question:
in a recent high school game. the ball was kicked before time expired but enter the goal after time had expired. it was a 2 man ref. system. I was not the head ref. so i had look to the main for help. He counted the goal saying its like “basketball” once its kicked b4 time expires it counts.

do you happen to know the if this answer is correct? i thought as time expires, the game ends no matter where the ball is.

USSF answer (April 7, 2009):
We don’t do high school rules here, but under the Laws of the Game you are absolutely correct: No goal, as time had expired. Soccer is not like basketball in that regard. And high school rules are the same as the Laws of the Game with respect to when time expires.…

"Inventive" Refs

NO SUBS AFTER “TWO-MINUTE WARNING”??

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I’ve been enforcing the no substitution after the 2 minute warning has surpassed. I was question by a U-15 coach of why I do that and ask if he could see it in black and white. Can you assist me please? I’ve searched the “Guide to Procedures”, “Laws of the Game” and FIFA’s website and still have nothing to show. If I’m wrong then I’m wrong but I know I’ve seen it before in writing but can’t seem to remember where I saw it. Can you please assist?

USSF answer (March 30, 2009):
We are unaware of any rules that do not allow substitution in the last two minutes of any game. Several possibilities come to mind that may have confused you on this matter:

1. Could this be a local rule of competition, something imposed by the league or local association?

2. Are you thinking of the instruction in high school soccer for a “two minute warning” prior to the end of each half (and before the halftime break is over) to mean that no substitution can take place? This rule does not forbid substitution during that period of time.

3. Are you thinking of the requirement in college soccer that the clock be stopped for any substitution occurring within the last five minutes of play in the second half but only if the substitution is being made by the team winning at the time? Even that rule does not forbid substitution during the period in question.

None of those rules except, perhaps, your local rules of competition, forbids substitution in the waning minutes of play.

4. Or, most likely of all, have you fallen for the myth propagated by many older referees — those people who always tell you how the game should “really” be refereed, because “We don’t follow the Laws of the Game, which are dead wrong” — that referees should prevent substitutions during the last “x” (usually 2) minutes of play because, by their definition at least, this is being done solely to waste time? That, too, is wrong, and we deal with that in the USSF publication “Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game”:

3.5 PREVENTING DELAY DURING SUBSTITUTION
Referees should prevent unnecessary delays due to the substitution process. One source of delay is a request for a substitution that occurs just as a player starts to put the ball back into play. This often (incorrectly) results in the restart being called back and retaken. Another common source of delay is a substitute player who is not prepared to take the field when the request to substitute is made. In each case, the referee should order play to be restarted despite the request and inform the coach that the substitution can be made at the next opportunity.

The referee shall not prevent a team from restarting play if the substitute had not reported to the appropriate official before play stopped.

During the pregame discussion, the role of each official in managing the substitution process should be discussed in detail. Every effort should made to ensure awareness of local substitution rules, to follow procedures which facilitate substitutions with a minimum of delay, to avoid overlooking valid substitution requests, and to prevent the substitution process from being abused by teams seeking to gain an unfair advantage.

3.6 ALLOWING SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDING TIME
Except for situations described in 3.5, referees may not ignore or deny permission for a legal substitution that is properly requested. Although Law 3 requires that the referee be “informed before any proposed substitution is made,” this does not mean that the referee can deny permission for any reason other than to ensure that the substitution conforms to the Law. Even if it seems that the purpose is to waste time, the referee cannot deny the request, but should exercise the power granted in Law 7 to add time lost through “any other cause.” (Rules of those competitions that permit multiple substitutions and re-entries can sometimes lead to confusion. Study the Advice under 8.3 regarding the start of the second half.)

If, before the start of a match played under the rules of a competition, a player is replaced by a named substitute without the referee having been notified, this substitute, now a player, is permitted to play, but should be cautioned for entering the field of play without the permission of the referee. This is considered to be an improper manipulation of the roster, rather than a substitution, and does not count against the number of substitutions the team is permitted to use.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

MISTAKENLY EXTENDED TIME

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Question:
Situation: USSF sanctioned match. In the second half, the referee allows the match to continue past the standard (sanctioned) length of the half as adjusted for time lost based on his error as to the proper duration of the half for a particular age group (eg., in a U12 match, the referee runs a 35 minute half instead of the standard 30 minute half). During this unauthorized extension, one team scores a goals which proves to be the winning goal. Aditionally, the referee adminsters a card (caution or send off). This fact situation presents the following two questions/problems:

Question # 1: Does the goal stand?

This question presents two subquestions depending on the timing of the referee’s recognition of his error:

Subquestion # 1a: After the goal is scored, but before the restart, the referee realizes that he has improperly extended the match. Can the referee disallow the goal and end the match as a tie immdiately (and describe these circumstances in his match report)?

Scenarioi # 1b: The referee allows the goal and restarts the match but, at a later point (but prior to blowing the whistle to end the match), the referee realizes his error. Must the referee allow the goal to stand, end the match immediately, and describe his error and the consequences in his match report to the competition authority?

Question # 2: Does the card stand?

This question also raises two subquestions depending on the timing of the referee’s recognition of his error:

Subquestion # 2a: The referee administers a card, but, prior to the restart, he discovers his timing error. May he rescind the card and end the match immediately as a tie (and describe these circumstances in his game report)?

Subquestion # 2b: The referee administers a card, restarts play, but at a later point (but prior to blowing the whistle to end the match) realizes his error. Must the referee let the card stand, end the match immediately, and report the circumstances in his match report to the competition authority?

Applicable Laws:

Law 5 Denotes that the referee is the official timekeeper for the match

Law 7: The referee may add time for time lost

The referee may not arbitrarily shorten or lengthen the duration of the halves where the competition authority has specified the duration of the halves

Asked for further information, the questioner stated that he “should have said something to the effect of ‘mistakenly extended’ time. In the case which prompted my questions, the referee simply made a mental error and ran a 35 minute second half having run a 30 minute first half. However, . . . in this case, both AR’s were inattentive and of no help to the referee and both coaches (including the coach whose team was ahead) did not question the referee about the time during the running of ‘extended time’.”

USSF answer (February 24, 2009):
1. Does the goal stand?
1a. The goal may be disallowed once the referee realizes his error.
1b. The goal must stand.
In both of these situations the referee must provide full details in the match report.

2. May the referee rescind a card? The card stands and the referee must provide full details in the match report.
2a. The referee COULD rescind the card, but SHOULD the referee do it? Probably not in this case, since the player’s misconduct is cautionable whether committed during play or (if time has run out) during the period immediately following the end of play.
2b. No, in this case the he card stands and the referee must provide full details in the match report.

To sum it up: The referee ran an overly long second half. If he had been smart and quick on his mental feet, he would have simply described the extra time as “taking into account time lost” — not true, of course, but an overly long half is easier to “explain” than a half which is short by any amount.

In a different situation, it might have been that the referee hit the 35th minute in the second half and said “Oh my God! I forgot that the half for this age group is 30 minutes long. I got it right on the first half but was so absorbed in the game and the players were playing so much above their age level that I let the half go too long.”

The match is not over until the referee says it is over. If the error is realized during a stoppage (e. g., for a goal), the goal can be cancelled and the match ended. If it is not realized until after play restarts after the goal, it stands and the match ends when the referee stops play. The same principle applies for the card shown at a stoppage — it can be cancelled if play has not resumed, it stands if play has resumed.…

"Inventive" Refs

ADDING TIME

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Question:
After a recent game, the coach of our team was told that extra or stoppage time was added for three injuries during the second half and that additional stoppage time was added whenever the ball was kicked out of bounds. Is extra time allowed to be added for the ball rolling out of bounds? By our watch, there was 10 additional minutes added for out of bounds balls (the ball never crossed a fence or any other obstacle but simply went out of bounds.) The opposing team scored twice during the last 4 minutes of the stoppage time and we lost the match. We have not heard of time being added for routine out of bounds.

USSF answer (June 2, 2008):
Time is not usually added routinely for balls that go out of play under normal circumstances. if the referee is certain that a team is wasting time by constantly and deliberately kicking the ball out of play, then the referee should add time to make up for this loss of playing time.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

WHEN TO END THE GAME

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Question:
I am a new Level 09 referee. I need some guidance about how a match ends. I understand that if a penalty offence occurs at the end of match time the penalty kick is taken. Are there any other set play situations that require carrying them out, such as free kicks, corners and goal kicks, that need to be taken after time has (just) ended?

USSF answer (May 6, 2008):
There is no set or particular moment to end a game. Law 5 empowers the referee to act as timekeeper and to keep a record of the match. Law 7 instructs the referee to add time (at his discretion) for time lost in either half of a game or in any overtime period for the reasons listed in Law 7 (Allowance for Time Lost). Referees allow additional time in all periods for all time lost through substitution(s), assessment of injury to players, removal of injured players from the field of play for treatment,wasting time, as well as “other causes” that consume time, such as kick-offs, throw-ins, dropped balls, free kicks, and replacement of lost or defective balls. Many of the reasons for stoppages in play and thus “lost time” are entirely normal elements of the game. The referee takes this into account in applying discretion regarding the time to be added. The main objective should be to restore playing time to the match which is lost due to excessively prolonged or unusual stoppages. Law 5 tells us that the referee’s decisions regarding facts connected with play are final.

Some referees will end the playing period while the ball is in play and there is no threat to either goal, such as allowing a team to take a goal kick and then ending the period. Others will end the playing period at a stoppage. Our advice is to do what is comfortable for the referee and fair to the players.

The referee must always add time lost; however, as Law 7 tells us: “The allowance for time lost is at the discretion of the referee.” In other words, the amount of time added is up to the referee.

To that we can only add that we sometimes find that referees abandon good sense in situations such as this.

And finally, to answer your specific question, no, a penalty kick is the only restart required by Law to be completed even though time is over (including additional time allowed for time lost due to excessively prolonged delays).…

Law 7 - Duration

FULL REPLAY OR PARTIAL REPLAY, THAT IS THE QUESTION

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Question:
My question is regarding a technical error made by the referee and the consequences from it. The referee in error ended a game 3-5 minutes early; this is a fact. The losing team protested the score.

What is the correct ruling?

The game has to be replayed in its entirety or the last (non played) minutes have to be played out to be considered a full game. Or are there any other options.

USSF answer (November 26, 2007):
There is no fixed formula for this situation and it is not covered in the Laws of the Game. Unless there is some other provision for this in the rules of the competition, tradition says that the game must be replayed in its entirety.

It would have been nice if the error had been caught immediately, in which case the game could have been completed on the spot, restarting with a dropped ball from the place where the ball was when the referee stopped play or, if the ball had already passed out of play, with the correct restart for the reason the ball was out of play.…