Question Number: 23838

Law 5 - The Referee 8/27/2010

RE: Adult

stopgap of sydney, nsw australia asks...

I was refereeing a match recently with no ARs and mistakenly blew for offside(there was a defender standing by the sideline keeping the attackers onside). As you would expect the attackers pointed to the defender. I still gave the indirect free kick to the defending team and just let the loudest objector know that I got the call wrong. What is the correct procedure when a mistake has been made and it is impractical to continue play? Thanks in advance.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Stopgap
If a referee has made an obvious error such as in the case, the best way to deal with it is to acknowledge the error with 'I've made a mistake' and to restart with a dropped ball from where the ball was when play was stopped.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

We've all done it. You've stopped play. Best to say you are sorry and restart with a dropped ball. The players understand.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You blew the whistle so play stops. Then you realize the reason you blew your whistle isn't correct.

At this point the only proper thing to do is restart play with a dropped ball from where the ball was when you stopped play. You have already acknowledged to the teams that you were wrong. Why compound this by making another mistake by going ahead with the IDFK?