Question Number: 24576

Law 5 - The Referee 2/11/2011

RE: Rec,Select Under 19

Craig Sommerfield of North Highlands, CA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 24556

Where does it say in the LOTG that the Ref should see what the players will 'tolerate' and call the game accordingly? Give me a break Keith. The Ref should call the game according to the LOTG. The teams will see this early on and adapt.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

If the referee stopped play every time there was minor contact, it would not be an enjoyable match for the players. If the referee picked a nit with every act not provided in the laws - - requiring that all free kicks to be taken within a millimeter of the spot of the foul, that every throw in start exactly where the ball left the touchline, requiring every jersey to be identical (rather than simply the same general color and type); asking 'where does it say in the laws that a keeper may wear gloves?' the referee would quickly lose any credibility, and control.

The skillful referee adjusts to the players' skills, tactics and temperament, directing the flow of the match as a conductor controls the tempo of the orchestra. The great referees calls everything that must be called, and nothing that is best ignored. Calling every trifle is the best way to kill the life out of the game.

The answer to your rhetorical question, however, has been International Football Board Decision 8 to Law V (removed by IFAB in 1996 because it was something that 'everyone knows'). Taught in every referee class, the USSF gives it a prominent place in the Advice to Referees as the 'heart of the laws.' It provides:

'The Laws of the Game are intended to provide that games should be played with as little interference as possible, and in this view it is the duty of referees to penalize only deliberate breaches of the Law. Constant whistling for trifling and doubtful breaches produces bad feeling and loss of temper on the part of the players and spoils the pleasure of spectators.'

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Craig
What does tolerate mean. It means allow the presence of or allow (an activity) without opposing or prohibiting it or to allow something that one dislikes or disagrees with to exist or occur without interference.
So if players are happy to tolerate throw ins taken a few yards away from the place that the ball left the field of play or the ball slightly moving on a goal kick or trifling offences then the referee should call the game accordingly. Referee Wickham has quoted IFAB Decision 8 and while its not written in the current Laws its spirit is still very much there.
If one asks why IFAB wrote this piece the law makers clearly believed that referees should not interfere with the game in certain situation, that player break laws unintentionally and that some offences are unimportant. They saw that first and foremost that it's a game and the referee should use the laws to make it pleasurable not to upset and create ill feeling.
The skill of a good referee is to discern what is important and to call the game accordingly.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Well Craig you go right ahead and call every game you do exactly the same whether it be a U12 Rec or U19 Classic. Blow your whistle every time one of the Laws is broken. should make for a fun time for all when you are stopping the game every 30 seconds for trifling infractions that bother no one but you.

Watch a Man U v arsenal match. Watch the players knocking the hell out of each other. Watch the referee not call anything. You telling me you are going to blow your whistle every time Rooney grabs an opponent or gets grabbed? Give ME a break.

This game is about the players not about you or me. If players are ok with knocking each other around a bit, who are you to tell them not to? On the other hand, when you're refereeing little kids, you MUST impose your will as the little ones have no idea what they are doing.

Law 5 gives us the authority to decide what to call and what to leave alone. The great referees call what has to be called and let what the players view as trifling go. If you call your game by the Letter of the Law and ignore the Spirit, you are doing the game a great disservice.

I don't know what kind of instruction you get in Sunny California but everywhere else I know of, we are taught to absolutely gauge what the players will tolerate and call the game accordingly. There's no higher compliment, to me, than after the game to have the losing coach come up and say 'thanks Ref for letting the players play'. Maybe he had you as the referee previously.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 24589