Question Number: 16921

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/26/2007

RE: High School and Travel High School

Franco of Bloomington, USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 16825

This is exaclty why I love this website. I come here to discuss things I don't know or to reafirm things I think I know.

All this time I have used dropped balls for any situation where I stop the game. In this case, since the whistle did not blow with the original foul and misconduct to stop play and because the ball did not go out of play, or a goal scored, or play ended in any way that another restart takes precedence-----I would have started the play with a dropped ball. If I had stopped play because advantage was not given, or advantage did not happen, or the misconduct/foul was so severe that I stopped play immediately, a different restart would have been given, but since the keeper had the ball and I needed to stop the game, I thought a dropped ball was appropriate. I have done this before and never has a fan, player, coach or another referee ever complained. Thank you for clearing this up and can you please go over situations that a dropped ball is given, since I have been wrong for years?

Back to the original- would my timing of when I stopped the game been okay -if I gave an IDFK as the restart?

A person is never too skilled, educated or too old to learn some more!

FRANCO

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

I gotta love your attitude Franco, we all smack you upside the head with our opinions and you pick yourself up and say you learned something and you love it. That really justifies why I spend so much time doing this.

K, drop the ball when you stop things and there is no restart listed in the Laws OR when you have the, nearly impossible, simultaneous happening of two fouls by opponents. That's about it!

Some of the panelists wondered what I meant by a phantom foul to get a stoppage, did you? Anyway here's what I meant and this is a huge stretch of my authority. When two players come together at midfield and I MUST deal with a bad actor there "was" foul play, tweet -- OFF YOU GO... I can also decide, and be within the Law, to stop play and discipline him at the point he is now because he is a threat to good order and discipline and needs to be disciplined right now [more properly RFN!]. Restart indirect where he is... In the end FIFA have given us this guidance in their Laws this year. See Additional Instructions and Guidance page 69:

Referees should consider the following circumstances in deciding whether to apply the advantage or stop play:

The severity of the offence. If the infringement warrants an expulsion, the referee shall stop play and send the player off unless there is a subsequent opportunity to score a goal.

The position where the offence was committed: the closer the offence to opponent?s goal, the more effective it can be.

The chances of an immediate, danger dangerous attack on the opponents? goal.

The atmosphere of the match.

What that asks is: should we have given advantage on this one in the first place -- that is left to the discretion of the referee on that match, that day and at that instant. That's why we get the big bucks...

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Franco. Good to have you back. As Ref Fleischer says, a dropped ball is the proper restart when no other restart is provided by the LOTG. But when is that? In practice, about the only time you'll ever restart with a dropped ball is when you stop for an injury and only for an injury. While it is also proper for a dropped ball restart if 2 fouls are committed by opponents simultaneously, that almost never happens and we are taught to NOT use the dropped ball as an out for not making up our minds as to which party commited the first foul. As an aside, when I was a little referee I used to restart with a dropped ball whenever any player was injured even if there was a foul involved! I think I did this my entire first season and no one ever mentioned it or questioned it. I felt like an idiot when I realised what I was doing but as you say never too old to learn. As to the original question, you gave advabtage because there was a clear chance for an almost immediate goal. I agree with you but then you come back immediately after the shot and punish the misconduct and restart with an IFK. I just remembered another time. When the ball is about to go out of bounds and a coach or parent sticks their foot out and stops the ball before it has gone out of bounds

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The other use of the dropped ball is when the referee messed up. The so-called "inadvertent whistle", meaning "Why the heck did I blow that thing?" For example, calling offside and then you see a defender way down there chatting with the keeper. Oops. Or you blow your whistle too early, anticipating something that doesn't come to pass.

Obviously this reason for the dropped ball restart is very rare for those astute refs who read this website.