Question Number: 12410

Law 7 - Match Duration 3/21/2006

RE: Competitive Under 14

Glenn of Tulsa, OK US asks...

This question is a follow up to question 12202

My question is related to a US under-13 boys tourney game that was recently played, and a very bizarre thing happened that I'm trying to understand.

- Game was tied 1-1 with just a few seconds to play.

- Our player is fouled just outside the penalty box.

- The ref awards our player a direct kick.

- While lining up to take the kick, the wall of opposing players is closer than they should have been, so our player asks the ref to give him the required 10 yards.

- The ref tells the opposing players to move back, which they do.

- The ref then blows the whistle and ends the game, just as our player is stepping to kick the ball.

Of course our coach goes berserk, as do most of the fans on our side of the field.

I'm assuming that this was in the ref's 'right' to do so. But, because it seems like it gives the defending team control of the game simply by lining up too close to the ball, and taking their time to adjust.

(It's for a similiar shady tactics that NFL football games can't end on a defensive penalty.)

Thoughts?

Thanks,
Glenn

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Yes it is true the referee is the official timekeeper. Yes it is true his ending of the game when he did is grounded in Law. That said, what he did was against the Spirit of the game and, in my opinion, should not have been done. He, in effect, awarded the team that committed the foul advantage which one should never do. He should have given some extra time added due to his having to move the wall, which he should not have to do anyway. The defenders are REQUIRED to give the 10 yards. The referee would have been just as grounded in Law for showing the yellow card to one or more of the defenders in the wall as not giving the required distance is a cautionable offense. Things happen all the time in soccer games and over the course of a game and season, they tend to even up

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 12417