Question Number: 22150

Law 5 - The Referee 10/4/2009

RE: Select Under 13

Chris Gray of Rye, NY USA asks...

There was an incident in the penalty box which left a striker of Team A on the ground. The referee did not call anything, and play continued for another 2 minutes, with the ball finally going out in the half of Team A (with Team B on the attack, and earning the throw in). To get to this point, Team B had had possession for some time.

The referee was about to let play continue (with a throw on), but was alerted by the rest of the players and the coaches that the striker was still down.

The referee immediately called a penalty (he did not confer with anyone else).

Is this right ? Is there not a time limit which is reasonable to make a call (especially as another call had been made when the ball went out)? Can the referee really make a retrospective call on something which he either (i) saw and thought was OK at the time or (ii) did not see, and did not have any officials to tell him anything ?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

As insane as this may seem, since play has not restarted, the referee may change his mind and call this a foul and award a penalty kick. My guess is that he saw the incident and thought no foul occurred and allowed play to continue. 2 minutes later when the ball went out of play, I suspect he thought since the player was still down, the incident he observed MUST have really been a foul and awarded the penalty kick.

I'm NOT saying this was a wise decision, it wasn't. But, per the Laws he CAN do this even if it's something he really shouldn't do. Would love to hear an assessor's comments on this one!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Chris
Like my colleagues I am astounded at this decision based on what you have presented. If there were three officials present and the referee missed an infringement along with the flag by an assistant referee and his attention was subsequently drawn to it by the assistant after a passage of play then the referee is entitled to go back to the original infringement and award the foul.
However on his own this would never happen and certainly never on a penalty. Penalties are almost instant decisions and even if advantage is played the referee must make a decision with 3/4 seconds to go back to the penalty award should advantage not accrue. It is also not advisable to play advantage on a penalty call unless a goal is almost certain. So for the life of me I cannot understand what happened here.
Also the referees that I know in this part of the world when approached in a pleasant manner about seeking clarification on a decision are usually happy to oblige and provide an answer. However if its an irate person on a rant its best to walk away and allow matters to cool down. I usually ask an irate person to come to me after everyone has showered and changed.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

'Oh dear' is about the only response I can think of here. I can't possibly imagine what was going through the referee's head. I seriously hope that, as Ref Nagy said, that you've missed something and his actions make sense - but sometimes the actions of the match official can defy belief.

Without the input of a neutral official to draw his attention to an aspect of an incident that he's missed, there is no reason whatsoever for the referee to go back after this amount of time.

If the referee applied advantage when the player first went down, then he only has a few seconds to determine whether to stay with the advantage or award the penalty - though it's rare to apply advantage in the penalty area.

I echo Ref Dawson's sentiments that it seems the assignor needs to get involved here.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The referee called a penalty after two minutes without input from anyone????
As my colleagues are incredulous admittedly so am I!
The referee can in law go back to an incident if he
(A) Has not seen that incident until a NEUTRAL AR or 4th has conveyed such information up until the NEXT restart of play.
(B)If the referee witnessed the event and played advantage but did not properly signal advantage so we are left wondering, then waited until later at a normal stoppage to do anything it is ludicrous to try and sell that decision and not say the team, players, coaches or fans have made that call for you going with the general feel good feeling at the time.
(c) If there was cautionable misconduct, that could be dealt with, but you can not go back to the foul.
(D) If the referee had played advantage and decided that the volitile situation can not WAIT until a normal stoppage the referee could stop play to show the card but that restart must be an INDFK back at the point of the misconduct not a penalty kick. Plus it is not a reccomended action to take as it will not be percieved well!

If what you say is true record and report the incident to the league assignor so the referee can be properly informed of some basic procedures and etiquette.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Chris, Law 5, IFAB decision, allows the referee to do this so long as he did not restart the game or the game has not ended. The LOTG do not have a time limit, only the restart caveat. Think of it this way: the chapter closes on any phase of live play when the whistle goes for any type of restart or the end of the game. At that point, whatever has happened before become irrevocable facts, even if the ref erred.
However it sounds like an outrageous decision, extremely poor refereeing. It boggles the mind how this referee came to this decision.
I have never heard the likes of this action. It is so incredulous that I am suspicious of your description. Perhaps an element of the play is missing but I cannot even construct a set of chain of events, which could make this possible.