Question Number: 14792

Law 18 - Common Sense 2/4/2007

RE: Competitive High School

Patrick Chambers of Kailua, HI USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 14783

Dear Ask the ref,

Thank you for taking the time to answer my question (#14783).

I've actually seen this happen in a tournament. Needless to say, no caution was administered. There was a point system in place (wins, goal differential, shutout) and the losing team had no chance to advance. However, they could (and did) affect the outcome for another team (watching from the sidelines)-one they disliked more than their opponents on the FOP. The intent of the defender's own goal was made unmistakeably clear.

I was able to find the below at the USSF website.

USSF answer (September 7, 2006):
"Bringing the game into disrepute" means doing something that is totally counter the spirit of the game, which is meant to be played fairly and in a sporting manner. Such acts show a lack of respect for the game, e. g., aggressive attitude, inflammatory behavior, deliberately kicking the ball into one's own goal or taunting.
http://www.ussoccer.com/laws/askref/index.jsp

No need to respond to this f/u to my original question, it's just a FYI.

Mahalo

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

A caution and terminating the game are 2 entirely different things. I contacted USSF and they are in agreement with this. While what the players are doing and is reprehensible, it is no reason to terminate the game. However, every time a player does this, he should be cautioned for unsporting behavior. SOme tournaments penalize a team for cautions or use this as a tie breaker.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Perhaps we are thinking of the same game. It was the last game of a round-robin qualifier taking place in very hot conditions. Team A had already qualified for the elimination round, and they were playing team B who could qualify with a win. Team C were on the sidelines - if B won, then C would not make the finals.

Team A was content to bunker to conserve their energy in the heat when B scored the only goal. B had no incentive to try to score further. The game ended 0-1, to the dismay of team C who expressed their opinions vehemently - to no avail. There's no Law that forces a team to try to win, although that is in the Fair Play code.

Contrast that with a game that happened in an African national league a few years back. One team harbored the opinion that the referee was out to get them, and in protest scored own-goal after own-goal, something like 150 of them! That would be one goal every 24 seconds - and that would be if the team became upset with the ref at the opening whistle. Again, not in the spirit of Fair Play, but not against any of the Laws in the book.