Question Number: 23285

Law 5 - The Referee 5/9/2010

RE: Recreation Under 10

Joseph Andes of Newberry, FL USA asks...

Per our state guidelines, if an extra ball enters the field during the match (common with rec fields tightly spaced) than the game is to stop if the ball creates interference in the game. The situation is that the ball entered the field, while the attacking team was within 2 - 3 yards of the goal, ready to score, and the ball entered the general area. They scored, but the defending team complained about it. I didn't stop, simply since a dropped ball would have occurred and the advantage would mostly been stripped from the attacking team. Either way, someone would be mad, however, the goal, did not affect the outcome of the game.

What is the opinion here, of what should be done.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Andes
You made the absolutely correct decision here. The Laws of the Game states that if an extra ball enters the field of play during the match without interfering with play, the referee must have it removed at the earliest possible opportunity. So play is allowed to continue. I'm not sure why it has to be a competition rule?
So in this case the goal is allowed, the extra ball removed and the restart is a kick off.
I might also question where the ball came from?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Only the referee can judge whether an extra ball is creating interference or not, based on the actions of the players. If your observation was that the ball was not interfering with the defenders or the attackers, you were correct in allowing the game to continue.

If you judged the extra ball to be interfering, you should stop play, and restart with a dropped ball wherever the game ball was at that time.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 23305