Question Number: 21920

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 9/8/2009

RE: Competitive,rec,select Under 15

rodney jones of petaluma, ca u.s. asks...

I was at a class 3 CYSA Competitive tournament last weekend and saw this happen. Goaly and attacker collide in the box, and both players were shaken up. After players were taken care of the ref just hnaded the ball to the goaly and let her kick it as if play never stopped.
My thought was if play was stopped for injury it should be dropped ball?
I have talk to several other refs and it seems to depend on what league your in.
Any input would be great.

Also I love all of your answers.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The correct restart is a dropped ball if play is stopped for an injury.

It is common to drop the ball to the feet of the goalkeeper (the ball is in play when it touches the ground), and let play continue after the keeper picks it up. A quick, simple, and safe restart.

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Rodney, restart in any league should be a dropped ball, (see Law 13 for location). This is Law 8 and it applies to all 11 aside soccer. The Laws talk about 'if referee stops game for any othere reason' and one them is injury, then the restart must be a dropped ball.

Incidentally, the referee cannot decide, who may or may not contest the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

The referee erred in law - not a rare mistake, this one.

The restart MUST be a drop ball - and a smart referee will drop it in front of the keeper before the attacking team even has a chance to decide if they want to get involved (normally the players are happy for the keeper to take it, but just in case....).

As soon as the ball hits the ground, it's in play and the keeper can then pick it up.

The important difference is that the attacking team do have the option of challenging a drop ball no matter what the circumstances are (which is why I said that in some circumstances, a smart ref will drop it before the players have a chance to do that).

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Play was stopped for an injury. The restart is a dropped ball. The referee is free to drop it quickly to the keeper if the referee feels that's the most fair thing to do, but he can't simply hand the ball to him. It must be dropped.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

If there was no foul called and play was stopped solely for injury a drop ball restart is correct. The referee could drop the ball and allow the keeper to participate as a single entity if the opposition do not wish to compete or the referee finds it convenient to do so. The referee cannot just hand the ball to the keeper as if nothing happened it must be dropped fairly! The truth is a referee cannot prevent an opponent from participating but he can go ahead and drop the ball from the correct spot whenever he wishes.< br> Cheers

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

See Question: 22036