Question Number: 22076

Law 5 - The Referee 9/25/2009

RE: Competitive Under 14

Adrian Giannetti of Yorba Linda, CA USA asks...

During the 65th minute or so of the game a IDFK was called just outside the 18 yard line for the attacking team (the call is not in dispute). The defense set their wall; the 1st offensive player touched the ball, the ball moved slightly (1st issue); the 2nd offensive player shot and scored the ball (the ball in the net is not in dispute).

The referee called off the goal (2nd issue). The referee re-started the game with a goal kick (3rd issue). The ball went out of bounds and the AR called the referee to the sideline (4th issue). After discussion the referee signaled goal and the game was restarted again with a kick-off (5th issue). After the game the coach for the defensive team spoke with the referee and the goal was disallowed and the score was changed (6th issue). Yes, the goal mattered 0-1 was the recorded final score.

Issue #1 - How much MUST the ball move, my understanding is 'touched AND moved'

Issue #2 - Should the goal have counted based on the description I've provided?

Issue #3 - If the game was re-started, isn't the play considered over and the goal should be disallowed?

Issue #4 - Did the AR act too late, should he have gotten the referees attention BEFORE the re-start?

Issue #5 - If the referee re-started the game with a kick-off should the goal now be allowed?

Issue #6 - If the game was played as a 1-1 tie can the referee decide to take away the goal at the end of the game? Wouldn't game tactics have been different if you were playing as 0-1 rather than 1-1?

My understanding is whether the ball moved or not was in dispute. This seemed to be cleared up by the AR. BUT, if the game was re-started the goal should not be allowed. BUT if the goal was allowed it shouldn't have been disallowed AFTER the game. What a cluster......

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Adrian, and thank you for your clearly laid out query. I will address your issues in order.

Issue #1 - The laws of the game simply state 'the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves'. The question is, what does 'moves' mean? If the ball rolls off the spot, even just, then this is obviously movement and puts the ball in play. What about if the ball is tapped, doesn't roll but is seen to wobble on the spot? I would say that is still sufficient for movement, but some may disagree. (NOTE: Jason is an Ausrtralian referee and not subject to USSF interpretation which does NOT consider a tap on the top of the ball as constituting kicked and moved, ed.) However, this comes down to whether or not the officials have seen the ball move - the referee may not think it has. About a decade ago, maybe longer, the laws used to demand that the ball roll its circumference before it is in play - sadly, I still see the occasional referee applying this.

Issue #2 - From your description, yes. Perhaps you could have respectfully and calmly approached the referee after the game to find out why it was disallowed? The only thing I can think of is that he may not have seen the ball move.

Issue #3 - The referee can change his decision at any time up until when play is restarted. If the AR called his attention to the issue before the goal kick was taken, then the referee could allow the goal. As the goal kick was taken, he can no longer change his decision (a caveat to this law relates to misconduct; a referee can act on misconduct (an incident needing a card) his assistant has brought to his attention after play has restarted, but he wouldn't award the free kick for the original misconduct.

Issue #4 - absolutely. Did the AR try to get the referee's attention before the goal kick? Often referees - particularly at these younger ages - forget to look over to their assistants. In such a case, and at such a critical situation, I believe the AR needs to do everything humanly possible to get the referee's attention. Again, some would disagree and say that shouting out is unprofessional - also, if it was an inexperienced AR he may not have known what to do (this seems to be likely; and experienced official would know that the ref can't change his decision and would not even draw it to his attention after the goal kick)

Issue #5 - Not sure if I completely understand this question. The referee has awarded a goal and confirmed this by restarting play; the goal is now a fact of the game and cannot be changed. The fact that the goal has been awarded illegally doesn't change this.

Issue #6 - As I stated in Issue 5, the goal is a fact of the match. The referee cannot change these facts arbitrarily; if he feels there has been an error in law all he can do is report it to the appropriate authorities. The referee has definitely done the wrong thing here - he has no authority whatsoever to remove a goal. You are correct that this would change the game tactics - but more important is that he has completely changed the result of the game. Essentially, the match referee has falsified the match result.

I would report the referee to his association or assignor, because the referee has made a number of significant errors here - errors in law (each of which could be enough to warrant an appeal with the possible result of the match being replayed) and he is in dire need of education.

I would also report the falsified match result to the league, with all relevant facts.

So, in a nutshell, it sounds like the referee should have allowed the goal in the first place. He didn't, and play restarted - at this point he can't change the goal, so what's done is done. He also changed the match result after the game, which he cannot do.

Incidentally, if the first player did not put the ball in play, then a goal kick is the correct response when an indirect free kick goes straight into the opposing team's goal without touching any other player.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Adrian
Excellent detailed answer provided by Referee Wright.
I would just make some observations.
Many years ago the law stated that ball had to roll its circumference for it to be in play. The reason for this was to assist players and officials to observe clearly that the ball had indeed been put into play. Under the current law the ball is in play when it is 'kicked and moves'. Each person has an opinion of what moves means and therein lies a problem. I would suspect here that the referee did not see the ball 'move' at the IDFK which had the knock on effect causing a series of issues.

Another point is that if the referee is not ready for any restart he is entitled to ask for the restart again. Just because the ball is kicked does not mean that play has defintely restarted. In this situation there is an unusual occurence in that the ball was kicked out over the sideline with no subsequent touches or ongoing play by other players. ? Was the goalkeeper aware of the Assistant's flag. Did he just kick it away. Had the referee become aware of that. One could agrue that in this unusual situation that play may not have restarted.
My final point is that once the goal was awarded and play had resumed with a kick off then the goal most definitely stands and nothing can be done to change that. The referee can write to the league saying that he made an error in law and it is up to the League to deal with that usually by way of replay. Changing a match result at the end of a game should never ever happen and I'm shocked if that did happen. The matter needs to be brought to the attention of the league

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Regarding 'kicked and moves', the USSF position is that means some discernable motion, 'from here to there'. It doesn't have to be a great distance, but it does have to take up some new position. Simply tapping the top of the ball to wobble the molecules that make it up isn't enough.

Once referees start getting creative, it never ends, does it? I too would recommend reporting this game to the powers that be so this ref can get his head straightened out.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The AR should have gotten the referee's attention as soon as the goal was disallowed. That was the time to inform the referee that the AR saw the ball kicked and moved on the first touch. The referee could accept that information and award the goal, or stay with the initial judgment and disallow the goal.

Regardless of the judgment calls involved here, law 5 does not permit the referee to change a decision (to allow or disallow the goal) after letting play restart. In theory, law 5 also doesn't allow the referee to disallow the goal after the kickoff. Moreover, law 5 does not permit the referee to 'fix' a decision after the match is over, even when the referee recognizes a grave error. After the match is over, the only thing the referee can or should do is report what happened to the league.

If the league permits a protest, this is a good candidate. The laws do not specify a remedy, however, and the league could decide from its many options that the final score should be changed from 1-1 to -0-1.