Question Number: 22944

Law 5 - The Referee 3/14/2010

RE: Competive Under 13

Angie of Littlerock, CA LA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 661

One of are players makes a goal and the center ref calls it a goal and then after the ref called it the sideline ref puts up his flag and said offside. What should the center ref do?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

The referee can change his decision at any point until play has restarted. As long as the kick off has not taken place, he can change his mind and disallow the goal - it's simply going to depend on whether he agrees with the AR that the goal should be awarded (and sometimes there can be disagreement, in which case it's the referee who has the final say).

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

If the referee accepts the information from the assistant (that a player in offside infringement by touching the ball or interfering an opponent), the goal is disallowed and play restarted for the offside. So long as the kickoff has not occurred, the referee may change a decision from goal to no goal.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Angie
This is not an unusual occurence. Many referees officiate on their own without assistants and then when using assistants, forget to look across to see if there is a flag or the referees are not positioned correctly to view the flag when it is raised.
The AR is in a position to view offside clearly and it is one of his key tasks in the game. As play has not restarted the referee can take the advice of his assistant and dis-allow the goal and restart play with an IDFK from the position of the offside infraction.