Question Number: 15667

League Specific 6/1/2007

RE: High School

Heather of Dearborn Heights, MI USA asks...

My question is if my team (red) had possession of the ball and we sent a thru ball to the forwards. The linesman called offsides and the center ref waived it off. The goalie had possession for the White team. As the goalie received the ball the white team went down for an injury. They stopped the play and the injury lasted about 3-5 minutes. For a restart for the white, should the goalie have been able to punt the ball out of her hands or should it have been their ball on the ground for the restart where the goalie had posession?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I assume that when you say High School, you mean a school game played under NFHS rules (which is what would be used in Dearborn Heights). It would be different in a high-school-aged game played under the authority of MSYSA/USSF/FIFA which follow the Laws of the Game.

The correct restart would be an indirect free kick for the goalkeeper's team. That is the NFHS rule, when a stoppage is required for something not otherwise covered in the rules and one team is deemed to be in control of the ball. (Per the Laws of the Game, the restart would be a dropped ball.)

The referee was correct to wave down the AR's flag, because the AR was just a bit quick to put it up. Since the ball went to the keeper, the attacker did not have the opportunity to become involved in the play, which is a requirement for an offside call to be made. It is not an offense to be in an offside position, whether that position is stationary or moving.

I am glad to see that at least you were in one of the HS leagues that still has AR's with flags. Not that [****] 3-whistle system we've had in Oakland Co.

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

To add to Ref Voshol's answer, I would also suggest that if you were not playing by NFHS rules, but instead under USSF/FIFA affiliate, the goal keeper would not have been able to punt the ball out in that instance either. Restart would have been a dropped by by the referee.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

An interesting question Coach Heather. It leads one to ramble, at length, about how a referee qualifies to be High School Referee in America. I have seen advertisements in newspapers begging for referees and seen the referees who answered the ad. They had no US Soccer license! There is a 100 question true false test that tests one's knowledge but I have not seen a course that specifically qualifies NFHS referees, at least around N. California.

So, with that bit of information perhaps the assistant referee is not quite up to speed concerning when he is to sanction a player, in an offside position, for an offence. Granted it is something US Soccer has been teaching since 1994! Here it is, when a player interferes with play and is offside, raise the flag. When a player interferes with an opponent, raise the flag. When the ball bounces to the offside player, raise the flag. At all other times the referee doesn't need to see a flag for a potential offside infraction.

You ask, what is the restart of play when a high school player "goes down" with an injury during open play? Now that all depends if there really is an injury or the player is just trying to stop play and waste a little time... We know that players don't ever involve themselves in this kind of behaviour so a caution and being shown the yellow card together with a corresponding indirect free kick at the point of the misconduct isn't going to happen. That leaves play being stopped with no restart of play mentioned and that for the whole world is a dropped ball at the point it was when play stopped. EXCEPT high school in America played under NFHS rules. The committee of 13, otherwise intelligent people, have deemed a dropped ball is not sufficient for their collective pleasure. They stewed over it for a while and came up with this:

Rule 9, Section 2, Art 1. . . The game is started with a drop ball:

c. following a temporary suspension of play for an injury or unusual situation in which no team has clear possession of the ball;

No, you say that doesn't fit what happened to me, my keeper had the ball in her hands; she had clear possession.

Aha the rule makers say, we got that one covered! Look at Rule 9, Section 3: In case of a temporary suspension due to injury or any unusual situation, if one team is clearly in possession of the ball, the game shall be restarted by an indirect free kick by the team in possession of the ball at the point where the ball was when play was suspended. Should there be no clear possession at the time play is suspended due to an injury or any unusual situation, there will be a drop ball at the spot where the ball was declared dead, subject to the provisions of rule 9-9-2.

For our readers in the rest of the world, yes it really works like that. One wonders if a death certificate is needed for the ball to be declared dead...

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The referee can restart with an IFK to the keepers team. If this were USSF, then the restart would need to be a drop ball. The referee waived down the offside because the keeper got to the ball and thus the attacker really was never involved in play.

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

See Question: 15694