Question Number: 19088

Character, Attitude and Control 5/14/2008

RE: Travel Under 15

Bob D. of Lowell, MA USA asks...

When is a goal not a goal?
Last Saturday my son's team scored a goal from a free kick. The ref made the advantage sign to the middle of the field. The players started walking towards the middle of the field for a restart. The goalie yells out "It's not in, It's not in"!The opposing coach is yelling no goasl on the sideline. She goes near him (5 feet away) and has a conversation. She then goes to the goal and tries to lift up the side of the net and she cannot. She givers the opposing team a goal kick. Upon inspection of the net it is noticed that there are 3 holes. The connecting rope on three sectiond had been cut.

Is this a violation of Law 5 or Law 10 or just a miss call on the goal as she did not consult with the line ref?

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

It would not be a violation of any law as nets are not required. Your league may require that goal nets are required, so check with them.

In this case, it appears that the referee decided that the ball must have gone into the goal from the outside of the goal upon seeing the holes in the side of the net. She is permitted to change her mind as to whether or not a goal was scored as soon as long as play has not restarted.

When I was a much newer referee I saw a ball apparently go into the goal. I was SURE of it, yet some how the ball ended up 20 yards behind the goal. Those two ideas don't add up. So, I went down to the goal to look for holes in the net. I looked over the entire thing and I couldn't find a hole sufficiently large enough to pass a ball through it. So, I gave a goal kick instead, much the the attacker's chagrin. What the attackers and I were sure of could not refute the very plain facts we were faced with...

Perhaps in this case she was sure the ball was out first but then it went into the goal through the side of the net. When the keeper pointed this out the referee inspected it and had enough proof to support her original thought. That might not actually be the case, but my example should show that it's certainly a possibility.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I assume from your description that the referee decided the ball entered the goal from the side through a hole in the net? Where was the AR that should have been following play? In any event, the referee may change her mind as long as play has not restarted which in your case it had not.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Bob,
For a goal to be awarded as a done deal the kick off restart would have been permitted to go ahead then it is too late to change the decision. It is always a contencious issue to alter a decision but a referee has the duty to do so if he was convinvecd in the error of the inital observation. And there is no advantage sign I know of that is used to indicate a goal as a free arm pointing to the centre can look suspiciously like a free kick out from the goal area. That said many refrees do point to the middle . I prefer no signal if it is obvious and to yell out, "No goal!" only if there is reason to like a late called offside or an attacking foul prior to the ball entering the goal etc.. The fact that I am writing information who scored and when indicates I am fine with the goal. A whistle only to stop play if there is reason to suspect the goal was scored as in then back out again and play was going to continue.
A lapse in AR communication can indeed cause some signal mixups. I have thought to award a goal only to see my AR acting strange as opposed to correctly giving me the best signal to indicate something was amiss so I confer to get a CLEAR picture and have at times rethought what at first I was ok with as well as chided them for not following proceedure to minimize confusion.
Cheers