Question Number: 24451

Law 5 - The Referee 1/2/2011

RE: Rec. Adult

Samir Atoui of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada asks...

What is the Right Decision for an Infringement that happens behind Referee's Back and having no ARs to ask who started and what was the infringement and where did it occur exactly...? Assume that (One player A from attacking team commits a mis-conduct (infringement) against the opponent's B Defending Team player and; the opponent's B team Player Ran after A player and retaliates) all with in the out of view of referee.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Real easy answer Samir. You didn't see anything. You have no assistant referees. Therefore, nothing happened that you can do anything about. Simply try your best to watch as much as you can, but if you didn't see it, it didn't happen. If you feel you're missing a lot of fouls, don't worry about offside

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Samir, the right decision for an infringement a referee or his ARs did not see is to do nothing. Usually he will see he retaliation and that he should deal with. No matter how obvious the matter may be, if you did not see it, you can do nothing.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

If you don't see it, it didn't happen - but for the rest of the game you'll want to adjust your positioning (maybe run wider) to keep both players in your view, as there's a chance somebody will retaliate.

If, for instance, you turn around and see them both fighting then you can deal with what you see there, and it doesn't matter who started it.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee has a problem. Something happened. Everyone knows what happened. Except, the referee didn't see it.

Big problem. If the players feel that an injustice has occurred, they are likely to take matters into their own hands. That can lead to mass confrontation.

An injustice will occur if the referee punishes the player who retaliates if the instigator is seen to have gotten off without any punishment. An injustice will also occur if the referee punishes a player (who did nothing cautionable), because the referee has assumed that there was some act of misconduct.

The wise referee appears to do justice. How so?

There are some ways to gather information on which the referee may properly act. Separate the two and speak privately with each, starting with the one who you know did something. Ask each a 'why' question. ' Why did you chase and hit him?' The answer may be 'he hit me.' Then ask the first, 'What did I miss? Why did you hit him?' The answer may be 'he was talking trash' (or your local equivalent). Both are more likely to answer if they think they are incriminating the other. Of course, they also give enough information - - their admission - - to caution each.

Moreover, even if you don't get enough information to caution both players, you have not ignored the situation. You talked privately to each one. The other players will treat it as you've warned each one. Most teams will accept as fair that each was punished equally - - both warned or both cautioned. Most players accept that a single referee can't see everything. Still, you then may need to shadow both players for a while, just to reinforce the message.

A referee who I respect has one other trick he uses, for it matches his personality. If he doesn't know who did what, he yells very loudly at each. (My mother used a similar technique with my brothers and sisters; I, of course, was saintly.)

You can't call what you can't see. But, you can't ignore what everyone (but you) saw.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Samir
The referee can only call what he sees or advised by a neutral assistant or 4th official. So in the situation of unseen violent conduct or misconduct the referee really cannot do anything such as cautioning or dismissing players.
However he can take steps to ensure that the situation does not deteriorate or players taking action themselves.
I recall a game a number of seasons ago when a player, I believe, struck a player behind my back at a stoppage. After calming the situation I took the captain of the player aside who told me that I did not see the incident, which I agreed with but I told him that if the player as much as spoke out of turn to anyone he would find me showing no leniency for the rest of the game. The team promptly substituted him and I later explained to the opponents why I could not send the player off which was accepted. Other times it may mean adopting zero tolerance to any incidents and paying particular attention to certain players while adopting a wider viewing angle of play