Question Number: 24036

Law 5 - The Referee 9/28/2010

RE: Rec Under 17

Rob hardy of Seattle, WA USA asks...

My keeper was kicked in the head during a game. The referee did not stop play and did not call a foul, another player scored shortly after the incident.
The keeper suffered a concussion and is now probably out for the season if not longer, given the Zach Zystedt law.
What should the coach do when the referees and AR either missed the play or are too inexperienced to be officiating at this level?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rob
Even the most experienced of officials miss incidents in a game. Also in the split second an incident like this can happen with the ball dropping to a forward who kicks the ball into the goal.
I witnessed a goalkeeper and a forward coming together at the wekend and I'm still not 100% sure what transpired as I thought that the GK was more likely to be hurt but it was the forward who went down injured. Thankfully he got up after some treatment and continued. I did not award a free kick and both sides accepted the outcome.
As regards what can coaches do IMO very little as assignors assign referees to the appropriate games and they do their upmost to get calls right .

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Sometimes some of the most horrific collisions do not involve a foul. Players simply both try to be at the same place at the same time, which violates the laws of physics, but not necessarily the Laws of the Game.

If the goalkeeper was diving for a save at the same time the attacker was kicking to score, the head and foot might come together. That's just an unfortunate part of the game.

If you believe that the referee was not experienced enough for the level of game, you can make your comments known to the assignor. Your league coordinator / division manager / scheduler / commissioner will know who that is. However you will need more than just a comment that they are inexperienced or were missing calls. You will have to give specifics about why you feel this way for your comments to have any credibility.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

A Ref Voshol said, there are times when the worst of collisions aren't actually a foul. Playing goalkeeper carries certain inherent risks - he's the only player who's permitted to throw his body - and his head - around the height of the other player's feet as part of a regular challenge. While the referees acknowledge this risk and try to keep it in mind, we can't stop the opposing team from challenging him. The goalkeeper doesn't really have any special protection.

Often if a goalkeeper is kicked it will be due to the attacking player either going in harder than he should've, or committing to a ball he wasn't likely to get and the referee needs to keep this in mind. But sometimes the ball's there to be won, either player has a good chance and it's just unfortunate when things go wrong.

I've seen a number of broken bones on the field, and each was the result of 2 players going in hard and fair, just with an unfortunate outcome.

It's unfortunate that your keeper is concussed and I certainly understand your frustration, but sometimes things just happen and it's nobody's fault; it's simply an in herent risk in the game.

If the coach believes the referee or AR misses play the best thing he can do is keep quiet. With all due respect to yourself, coaches are often convinced the referee and assistants are getting it wrong every minute of the game; after spending quite a lot of time in both positions I can assure you that the referee is correct far more often than the coach is!

One thing you probably can't truly appreciate unless you referee is what a difference the angle of view makes. You learn that incidents can look completely different from different angles, and if the referee misses something that looks blatant then there's actually a fairly good chance that he's got the better view (remember, he's the one that gets to move around the field for a better view of play!) and has seen something completely different. I've seen incidents which, as an assistant referee, look like a blatant foul but after talking to the referee realise that what I thought had happened wasn't even close to it.

Think about this next time you watch a game on television - how often is a foul replayed on TV and the spectators or commentators will talk about how 'on the first angle they showed it looked pretty bad, but then they showed a better angle and you can see there wasn't much in it' (or vice versa)?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The best place is address concerns about the referees, coach, is within your league. Many leagues employee directly or work with an assignor to schedule referees. The league's referee liaison should be responsive to your concerns whether the referees lack experience/ability for the assigned level of play to ensure the safety of your players. They likely will inquire into the circumstances, and at competitive levels, often send an assessor or mentor to evaluate the referee.

I'm sorry for your keeper's injury.