Question Number: 20001

Mechanics 9/19/2008

RE: comp Under 19

Fernando of Oakley, ca usa asks...

Do you or do you not signal a goal using the whistle? Ball goes in go, goal is scored, whistle or not whistle? Not counting in and out goals or off the post goals where play must be stopped. Ball goes in goal hits back of net, Ar makes his dash.. Do I whistle for goal?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The whistle is a tool you use it to get attention more than anything else. A player rips a ball into the back of the net and bulges the netting it stays in the goal so a player has to go and fetch it out assuming there was no infringment do you think no one gets it was a goal? I ask who scored it loudly to record the goal scorer in my book I point to the center circle and indicate Kick off only if it is at all unclear

Use of whistle
The whistle is needed to:
? start play (1st, 2nd half), after a goal
? stop play:
? for a free kick or penalty kick
? if the match is suspended or abandoned
? when a period of play has ended due to the expiration of time
? restart play at:
? free kicks when the wall is ordered back the appropriate distance
? penalty kicks
? restart play after it has been stopped due to:
? the issue of a yellow or red card for misconduct
? injury
? substitution
The whistle is NOT needed to:
? stop play for:
? a goal kick, corner kick or throw-in
? a goal
? restart play from:
? a free kick, goal kick, corner kick, throw-in
A whistle which is used too frequently unnecessarily will have less
impact when it is needed. When a discretionary whistle is needed to
start play, the referee should clearly announce to the players that the restart may not occur until after that signal.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

A whistle is not necessary for a goal that is obvious. If the ball is just across the line and then squirts back out onto the field, you may need to whistle to stop further attempts at play.

I once thought a whistle for a goal should be a good thing. After all, the players had just completed the biggest event in a game, and the whistle simply added to the celebration. It got kinda old after about the 5th unanswered goal. And when the score got into double digits, it was downright embarassing. When I learned that the whistle wasn't always necessary, I thought of that game and how it would have been better without my whistle from the first goal.