Question Number: 2234

Law 3 - Number of Players

RE: Competitive Under 12

Ben Mueller of Sheboygan, WI United States asks...

I was the center referee for a U12 girls game when one of the assistant referees raised his flag while the ball was in play. I had no idea what he was calling but I blew my whistle. As soon as I blew my whistle, I walked over to him and asked him what the problem was. He said that the red team had 12 players on the field. I counted them and sure enough he was correct the red team did have 12 ladies on the field. I told the coach of the red team that he needed to remove one of the players from the field because the laws of the game state that each team consists of 11 players on the field. He told one of his girls to come off of the field and I showed her a yellow card for entering the field of play w/o the referees permission. I restarted play with a dropped ball at the location of the ball when I stopped play. The coach of the other team said it should have been an indirect kick. Who was right drop ball or indirect kick. It clearly is a drop ball if a substitute enters the field of play w.o the referees permission but this lady, I carded, probably was just another girl that forgot to come off the pitch when she was being subed for.

Answer provided by Referee Victor Matheson

The violation in this case was by a substitute not a player. A substitute illegally came on the field giving her team 12 players. The correct restart for violations by substitutes is a drop ball from the spot where the ball was when play was stopped. Had the violation been something like a player illegally exiting the field, the violation is now by a player not a substitute, so the restart would now be an indirect free kick at the point the ball was when play was stopped. Your call was exactly right given the circumstances. However, the thing you should learn from this game is that you need to be more careful during substitutions to make sure that the right number of players come on and off the field. The perfect call in this situation would have been to tell the team during the previous substitution, before the game was even restarted, that too many players were on the field. That way you avoid giving a yellow card and you avoid the controversy about the correct restart.

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Note: As of 2006 the restart of play is indirect free kick to the opponents of the side having 12 players at the point it was when play stopped.

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See Question: 25635