Question Number: 22752

Character, Attitude and Control 1/24/2010

RE: REC Adult

Adam Wolstneholme of manchester, England asks...

What is the correct action if, a corner ball is given, a player goes to retrieve the ball and kicks it to the taker, the taker then takes the corner whilst the player is off the field of play. Are you supposed to wait for the player to re enter the field of play?

Answer provided by Referee Tom Stagliano

Referee Wolstneholme

You state that this is a Recreational Adult game. There is an underlying assumption of Fair Play in all soccer, however, that should be the essence of Recreational Soccer.

When I am refereeing a game whether it is 'recreational' or 'competitive', most of the time there is Only one ball in use for the game (under LOTG not high school nor college rules which mandate ball retrievers and extra balls). There are no ball handlers nor retrievers. The only time I permit another ball (that I have inspected) to be used, is when the primary ball goes off the field to a position that will take a substantial time to retrieve.

Given that, when the ball goes over a boundary line, typically the team with the restart retrieves the ball. However, with good sportsmanship, if an opposing player through the course of play happens to be off the field and close to the ball, we All expect that player will pick up the ball and return it to the field. In most competitive games, that player will carry the ball back to the field and then toss it to the opponent for a goal kick, corner kick or throw-in. However, sometimes in a recreational game that player will toss the ball to the opposing player Before reentering the field.

If that happens, I will ask the team taking the restart to wait a moment until the opposing player has reentered the field. NOTE: I also add time for any wastage due to this or in general for retrieving balls far from the field.

This is Especially important if the ball crosses the goal line, and the defending team thinks it is a goal kick, while I have signaled for the corner kick. If the goalie has gone behind the goal to retrieve the ball, and then notices I have signaled for the corner, I will politely ask him to please pick up the ball and bring it back to the field and I will hold the restart until the goalie has reentered the field. Once again, the goalie in a competitive game, will go to his position and then throw the ball towards the corner, while the recreational goalie may merely kick the ball towards the corner before returning to position.

I never want any confusion on which team has the restart Nor any display of Sportsmanship to be taken advantage of. If something like that occurs in the first 20 minutes of the game, and I do not intercede, then managing the remaining 70 minutes may be 'Hell'.

As for the LOTG, there is nothing that prevents the opposing team to restart immediately upon receiving the ball, other than the continual repetition of the words 'Fair Play' through out the LOTG. This will essentially come down to: How do you manage the game? You can be Proactive or Reactive.

Thanks
- Stag

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Wolstneholme
If it is an opponent I believe that fair play should dictate that the team wait until the player returns. If it is a team mate there is no requirement to wait as the team has decided to restart without the player.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The only time this would matter when teammates do this is if the guy fetching the ball stayed off the field in an attempt to deceive the opponents, make them forget about his position.

As Ref McHugh notes, if your opponent is kind enough to fetch the ball for you, you probably should at least wait for him to get back into position before taking the corner kick.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

While protocol and fair play dictate if an opponent retrieves a ball, the kicking team should wait for his return, it is not REQUIRED for the team taking the kick to wait. When I coached I taught my players to only retrieve balls if the restart was in our favor. I also taught them that if an opponent fetched the ball for us, to absolutely wait until that opponent was back on the field. Unfortunately, especially in America, the concept of Fair Play is dying.