Question Number: 22374

Law 5 - The Referee 10/27/2009

RE: competive Under 18

imoro of cape coast, cape coast ghana asks...

if the ball hits an outside agent say a ballon or a bird before entering a goal post. i would like to find out if that goal is valid. thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Imoro
The referee in my opinion has to decide what effect the outside agent had on play and on the flight of the ball. If the ball was almost in the goal and the contact made no difference I would allow the goal.
If however the contact had a material impact on the flight of the ball or subsequent play the game should be stopped, the outside agent removed and the game restarted with a dropped ball where it contacted the outside agent.
A recent example was in the English Premier League where a ball hit a balloon before entering the goal. The contact had an effect on play and as a result the goal should have been disallowed and restarted with a dropped ball.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

It will be that much chanted mantra
IN THE OPINION OF THE REFEREE!

No one can foresee every eventuality but FIFA provided a drop ball restart to cover these unusual circumstances should they arise when the ball is in play! Within the LOTG it mentions 'outside agents' which we tend to referee to as human intervention but 'outside interference' can be given the same treatment as we give outside agents. There is no pressing need to stop play if the outside interference does not interfere with play or is a danger to the players.

For example a dog peeing or pooping on the corner flag at the far end of play while perhaps distasteful it is far different than a barking dog running at the ball with players nearby or if the dog ran onto the field and chased at the ball as it headed into the goal
We stop play immediately for the barking and chasing because of safety and the dog is removed!
We perhaps ignore the corner arc bathroom area or if play is stopped naturally, suspend play until the dog owner takes the dog off the field and any by-product left behind.
We might wait a second if the ball was going to enter the goal to see it if the dog only chased it into the goal thereby not affecting the outcome however, once the dog makes contact with the ball hard not to see this as a drop ball situation

There are circumstances where fans will throw loose debris onto the field! Streamers, balloons, rolls of toilet paper, loose Styrofoam coffee & beer cups these are usually only nuisances!
There will be times when play will be suspended to clean up the debris. Most of this stuff is not dangerous or vile as are the hard thrown objects like batteries, rocks, coins, bags of urine, flares or smoke bombs which threaten safety and could result in a match being terminated

The soft stuff effect on play are negligible and ONLY if they directly affect the play would there be a reason to stop play and award a drop ball for outside interference. A ball that was going wide of the goal or into the goal a light air or helium balloon or a paper streamer will likely not alter the balls trajectory as did the hard rubber or larger tension surface beach ball in the Liverpool match. The referee must discern the cause and effect of the actions witnessed.

A player hammers a wicked blast from top of the PA and small swallow darts in front of the ball as it enters the goal likely killing it dead and still scores! Unless that swallow was knocked into the keeper's eye! As long as the keeper was unaffected the goal is going to count.

If that bird was a seagull and the shot after striking the larger bird deflected wide or into the goal even if the keeper was affected or unaffected we are likely drop ball because the bird created a direct impact on play is likely dead or injured and could pose a danger to nearby players being pecked or tripped over.

If the ball only ticked the seagull on the way towards goal again unless the opponent/keeper was affected or prevented from being able to get to the ball or the ball flight was redirected from a clear miss to a clear goal or vice versa we likely award the goal or the goal kick because the outside interference had no direct impact on play.
Cheers