Question Number: 16477

Law 5 - The Referee 8/29/2007

RE: Adult

Don Foshay of South Portland, ME USA asks...

What are the high school rules concerning an offensive player who goes down injured in his own scoring area and remains down. Does the ref stop play regardless of who possess's the ball? If not, when does the ref stop play to address the injury?

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

I re-read through my HS rule book when I went to answer this question. The book is surprisingly devoid of any instruction to the referee as to exactly when they should stop play to deal with an injury.

That leads me to believe the referee will stop play immediately if any player is seriously injured. Though a referee may delay holding up the game for an injury if he feels that player is only minimally injured.

One thing to note, if the referee stops play to deal with an injury and one team clearly has possession then that team is awarded an indirect free kick at the location where the ball was when play was stopped. (This is different from FIFA/USSF and NCAA soccer where a dropped ball is given at the location where the ball was when play was stopped.)

In HS if a player is deemed unconscious or just apparently unconscious the player may not resume playing in that game without a physician's consent.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

There is no difference in the rule, if a player is seriously injured the referee stops play, if not play continues until the next stoppage. The difference lies in the restart of play should the referee elect to whistle and stop things. If one side has clear posession, in high school in America, the restart is indirect free kick to that side. In all other competitions we restart with a dropped ball.

Regards,

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

See Question: 16794