Question Number: 15879

Law 5 - The Referee 6/25/2007

RE: Competitive Adult

jonah of Calgary, Alberta Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 15860

I kindly thank you all for your time and answers. The common thread [15860] seems to be whether or not a significant (one or two or a few seconds) amount of time has elapsed. I was hoping for a less arbitrary discussion point.

I would propose that if the player is no longer being fouled and can release a through ball, the advantage has materialized and was wasted when it struck a fixture on the field.

The explanation i was given by the official after the game was that he had taken away the advantage. Not that it didn't develop, but that the player played the ball and he (the ref) took it away with his position.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Your proposal is valid. It is in accordance with your opinion regarding facts connected with play. There is a small point to consider: the referee seemed to have another opinion about what the advantage he saw, and played for, just happened to be. When he returned to the foul, there was one for there to be an advantage, he said the advantage HE SAW was not realised. That is his opinion regarding a fact connected with play.

At this point we must examine the Laws of the Game. In Law 5 this appears:

The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.

That makes his decision final, correct or not, just final. That is the field condition under which your side competed that day. Granted a referee leading play and being hit with the ball is suspect and most probably extremely poor mechanics. So be it. Later he said by his poor positioning on the field, killed the advantage. Again, his opinion. From the technical area all of a referee's thoughts are unknowns and unless he communicates them to the technical areas no one there will know what he's thinking. Occupants of the technical area must understand this, accepting it is another matter. Just understand it is his decision not ours. It is his match, his decision and his reputation not ours.

By getting hit with the ball his decision may be suspect, though right or wrong the referee is always right. That's Football...

Regards,