Question Number: 23321

Other 5/17/2010

RE: High School

Jim Laydon of Iron Mountain, MI USA asks...

The rule applies to an indirect kick if clear possession is determined when an injury occurs. It appears this rule was changed to apply to High School games. Here is the scenario that happened in my game this past week and it pretty much determined the outcome of two cross-town rivals. As I was thinking over the rule I also came up with a number of other ways this rule could be interpreted and applied that even further confused me, so I am really looking for clarification to set my mind straight.

The scenario as it occurred and was applied by the center referee was:

Our team was attacking the opponents goal at which time the opponents keeper was injured. She however continued to play. The ball was eventually cleared, the opponents gained possession and my team retreated to the "line of confrontation" I had set at mid field. The opponents transitioned, my team began to defend and had full containment, channeling a weaker player to the outside. At this time both teams are tactically doing exactly as they are suppose to " all is well.

The opponents keeper now showing signs of distress waves to the coach and the coach and players yell to her to go down if she is hurt. Bear in mind, again we have full containment and my girls are doing exactly as taught. The referee now hearing the other bench looks back at the opponents keeper and blows the whistle. He checks on the keeper and after a short delay she stands up and is ready to resume play.

Here is where it gets messy! The referee awards my opponent an indirect free kick in my defending 3rd (where the ball happen to be when he noticed the keeper went down) forcing my girls to yield 10 yards and allowing my opponent to move his strongest girl over to take the free kick. This now presented my opponent with a goal scoring opportunity, taking away a tactically sound position of mine, solely because that was the time my opponents keeper decided to go down with the injury and the referee consequently decided to blow the whistle. The resulting goal didnt come directly from the kick, however my team failed to recover and the resulting goal came within 1 minute of that kick.

My questions and thoughts:
Ultimately was this rule applied correctly in my scenario:

Is the free kick taken from the point of the ball or the point of the injury?

Is the "clear possession" ruling at the time of the injury or at the time the whistle is blown? We had possession when the injury occurred; they had possession when the whistle blew.

As the rule was applied, what would have prevented their keeper from waiting until her team was right in front of my goal before going down? Although I am sure that was the furthest thing from her mind, realistically she was in complete control of where that free kick was ultimately going to be taken.

What if that keeper was seriously injured and a different ref didnt want to stop play knowing that the free kick would determine the outcome of the game, thereby endangering the player. He would likely have a different outlook if it would ultimately only be a drop ball or throw-in.

If the ref noticed the injury immediately, while we had possession, it would have been a free kick for us in front of their goal, possibly completely changing the outcome of the game. Arent we now putting the outcome of goal scoring into the hands of the players and refs forcing them to determine whether an injury is significant enough to stop play (by the way this keeper played until the last few minutes of the game)?

I truly fear the many things that gamesmanship type coaches could use knowing that an injury, real or not, could ultimately lead to a free kick literally in front of the opponents goal! Unfortunately many of these things could lead to more injuries!

Thanks in advance for your feedback...

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
I will defer to my more knowledgeable colleagues in respect of NFHS rules but from my interpretation of what is written is
1. The IDFK is taken from where the ball was when play was stopped by the team in possession
2. Clear possession is determined when play was stopped not when the injury occurred.
3. The referee was technically correct in his decision
To me this rule is open to 'abuse' by unscrupulous teams. The astute referee could and should allow play to continue until the ball is out of play and perhaps not give an advantageous situation to a team when the opponents have in fact done nothing wrong. Having said that he/she can also be accused of not dealing with an injury particularly when there are calls by coaches etc to deal with it. In this case there seems to be a large delay between the injury and the stoppage which IMO is patently unfair given the IDFK restart in an attacking position but that is the way the rule is written and the referee dealt with it under the Rules.
Thankfully in a FIFA/USSF game the restart is a dropped ball and in most games the ball would be kicked back to the team in possession or to the opponents of the injured player or out of play so that there would never be an advantage to any team by the game being stopped for an injury.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

You bring up good points about how NFHS rules can be manipulated to achieve results never intended by the rulemakers. The intent was that a team could not take advantage of an injury to take away an attack by their opponents; at least after the injury the opponents would have the ball restored to them. NFHS doesn't trust its players to have respect for the traditions of the game, and it makes rules to force them into 'fair behavior' - even though those rules can now be exploited to an advantage.

Under FIFA Laws the referee would administer a dropped ball following the injury stoppage. A wise referee would be able to manage this situation with his personality to ensure the team that had possession had it restored to them.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Under high school rules, the IFK for the team in possession is based on where the ball was located when the referee decided to stop play (not the time/place of the injury). The referee always has the power to decide, however, that no one was in possession when the decision was made to stop play - - restarting with a drop ball.

Another high school rule on injuries, however, would hamper trying to use a keeper injury as a tactic. Under NFHS rules, if either the referee decides the keeper is injured or summons a trainer, the keeper must be substituted (unlike the exception under TLOG that permits a keeper to be treated on the field). There are better tactics than one which may cause a team to substitute its #1 keeper.