Question Number: 22892

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 3/4/2010

RE: Competitive High School

steve glanz of council bluffs, iowa usa asks...

I would like to know if the high school game has just started and 1 minute has approximately been played, but the time keeper forgot to start the clock. The referee does not have a watch on, what is the proper restart.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Glanz
I can only answer for games played under FIFA LotG. If play is stopped by the referee to deal with this or any other reason not covered in the Laws the restart is a dropped ball from where the ball was when play was stopped.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The high school referee should always wear a watch. Official timers can make mistakes and stadium clocks can break. While the referee has the power to keep time when no other means are available (and IMO this power includes the power to correct errors by the official timer or to dismiss the official timer if the conduct is egregious), the referee here doesn't know how long the match has been played. That is sad.

Should the match be started over with a new kickoff? I don't believe so. The match started when the ball was put into play, not when the clock was turned on. My recommendation would be to estimate the amount of time already played, and reset the clock consistent with this estimate. A full report of the circumstances should be provided to the league.

Restarts in high school can sometimes be different than under the laws of the game (which always provides for a dropped ball) when play is stopped for some other reason not covered in the Laws. In high school, a dropped ball is appropriate if neither team was in possession of the ball when play was stopped. Otherwise, the restart is an indirect free kick for the team in possession.