Question Number: 23055

Law 5 - The Referee 4/1/2010

RE: competetive Adult

Alfred of Palm Desert, CA USA asks...

During a Mens League match as an AR, I observed The Center see the other AR put the flag up for offside, The Referee correctly let play go on beacause the keeper possesed the ball. There was no whistle blown but the Keeper hands the ball to a defender in the penalty area. The Referee correctly awards a PK. Is there any other way of dealing with this issue as the Referee said after thematch he didnt feel good about the call.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Alfred
The more experienced referee will award the IDFK for the offside. He had the raised flag for offside and you do not mention if the CR waived that flag down before the incident. In the spirit of the game the goalkeeper did not have to hand the ball to the defender and up until that point no infraction had been committed by him. Clearly the AR believed that there was an offside infraction and signalled for it. The referee decided to play allow play to continue but did not signal that clearly enough to the goalkeeper & players and perhaps the AR.

It also highlight the need for the "Wait and See flag". If there was a chance of collision then play should have been stopped when the AR signalled.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

This situation can often be averted if the referee would call out something: 'Keeper's got it, keep playing!'

While we are not to try to find excuses for the mistakes of the players, if the players are misled by the actions of the referee it is not fair to penalize them. The referee should have gone with an offside call that all the players expected, even if it really wasn't a correct call. Or you could have gone with a dropped ball for an inadvertent call.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Even though the referee didn't blow the whistle and all players know to play the whistle and we're not to compensate for player mistakes, this is one time where I would call the offside even though the AR almost certainly should have kept his flag down unless the OSP player touched the ball. The SPirit of the game demands we try to be fair and I think the least fair thing would be to award a PK