Question Number: 23732

League Specific 8/2/2010

RE: Competitive Adult

Yassine of Arlington, VA USA asks...

A penalty was taken and it should have been retaken according to Penalty kick rules but the referee ignored that and called an indirect free kick for the defending team. The defending team decided to leave and not finish the game, does the result stand or should the game be replayed? If the teams finished the game also should the game be replayed because of the referee's mistake or does the result stand? Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Your questions are matters that are left to each league to decide based on the league's rules. Some leagues do not allow any protests; some allow protests involving the misapplication of the laws of the game (such as the restart your question identified). Other leagues have specific guidelines for when and how a protest can be lodged. Where it is allowed, questions about what to do next usually is left to the discretion of the protest community.

In my experience, however, committees have very little patience for a team that walks off the field because they disagree with a referee's match decision. Unless the incident involved the safety of the players (e.g., deciding to play with lightening nearby), I would not be hopeful that the match would be ordered replayed when it was abandoned because of mass dissent by a team or coach. But, ultimately the league's protest committee will decide whether the match will stand, whether the team that refused to continue will forfeit, or whether the match will be replayed.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Law 7 says, 'An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules provide otherwise.'

You will have to check if your league rules have provisions for forfeit games.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Yassine
The referee may terminate a match for reasons of safety (bad weather or darkness) and for any serious infringement of the Laws. In this case all the players on a team walking off is a serious infringement of the Laws.
As regards what happens next that is a matter for the competition authority, not the referee. The competition organiser has the authority to declare a winner, a forfeit, or a replay of the match in its entirety. The referee will have reported fully the events that took place so that the decision can be made.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

None of this has anything to do with the referee. All he can do is terminate the game when one team refuses to play. He must write a full report and submit it to the proper authorities who will then decide what is to be done