Question Number: 24636

Law 5 - The Referee 3/2/2011

RE: Competive High School

Manhattan Beach of Manhattan Beach, ca USA asks...

Can you help explain the reasoning behind the Advice to Referees 9.1 Ball Out of Play in regards to when play is considered to have stopped i.e. when the decision is made and not when the decision is announced (whistled). It seems like this advice could result in what would normaly be a foul having to be determined to be a misconduct becaue 'play was stopped.'

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
When the referee makes a decision the whistle only signals that decision and there can be a delay between the referee' s decision and the signal.
So let's say that the referee makes a call for a foul and before the whistle has sounded another foul has taken place then the original foul can only be called. The second 'foul' happened before the whistle but it happened after play was stopped. The referee can still take action against the 2nd incident but it can only be misconduct not a foul.
The key is when the decision is made by the referee, not when the decision is announced by the whistle.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Sure. Play stops the moment the referee decides to stop it. The whistle signals that play has stopped so when you hear the whistle, play has already stopped. You understand correctly. Although this probably won't happen, if an infraction occurs between the time you stop play and the whistle is blown, it theoretically can't be a foul, only misconduct.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The notion that the 'moment in time' that matters is the decision and not the announcement also helps with two mandates of Law 5 that apply when play is stopped: (a) the referee may decide to hold up any restart; and (b) the referee may not change a decision or to issue a caution after allowing advantage after play has restarted.

An example illustrates why. The referee allows advantage to the green team, intending to caution a red player when the ball next goes out of play. Play continues until a throw-in for red. Red quickly throws the ball back into play. Because the referee intended to hold up the restart, the referee retains the power to caution the red player. Otherwise, the red player might escape the card.

IMO, the notion that it is the decision and not the announcement that matters rarely limits a referee when bad things happen in the fraction of time between decision and whistle. Since only the referee knows when the decision was made, the referee usually can punish the more serious action without any loss of credibility. My experience is that more issues arise when the whistle is too quick.