Question Number: 17272

Law 3 - Number of Players 10/12/2007

RE: Professional High School

Al Dugan of Belmar, NJ USA asks...

My daughter and I were watching an English Premier League match last weekend and the annoncer said someone had been slated to be in the starting 11 but had been hurt in warmups..and she asked if that is a problem for the team who lost the player..that got me to thinking and searching through the books....

Law 3 says "In all matches, the names of the substitutes must be given to the
referee prior to the start of the match. Substitutes not so named may
not take part in the match."....but it doesnt say how the names of the starting 11 are given to the referee. And is there a time limit before the match when the squads have to be announced? Say Man U is at Liverpool and there is a question about someone's fitness (say Rooney) and Liverpool would play a different member of the back four if Rooney wasn't starting or even named to the substitute's bench. Does tradition say the visitors have to present first or anything like that? And if you name a starting 11 (this is a little far fetched, but stranger things have happened) and he takes ill before the kickoff, it's obvious you can use a sub, but can you replace that sub by naming another player as the fifth named sub? My daughter asks these kinds of questions all the time...she is going to make a great referee!

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

As long as it's before the kick off a team may put any 11 they want on the roster as players and then list all the eligible subs. If one of the "starters" became ill during warmups they simply take his name off the starting roster and replace him. Then they can decided to leave him as an eligible sub.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Usually the list of substitutes and players are given the referee in the locker room before the match. You'll note that in most cases this occurrs after the players return from the field where they have been warming up. Once the lists are delivered there are no changes permitted.

Regards,