Question Number: 24711

Mechanics 3/21/2011

RE: Select Under 15

John of Pensacola, florida USA asks...

Player passes ball back to his keeper with thigh. Keeper catches ball in air. Center ref awards IFK. AR recognizes flaw in call but does nothing, even stating to us (we of course expressed our displeasure at the call) coaches 'I cannot override Center'. I expected him to get the attention of the Center Ref and tell him what he saw before the IFK was taken, thus possibly reversing the call and providing a drop ball back to the keeper for restart. What should AR have done in this case?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

If the referee has clearly made an error, the AR should endeavor to get his/her attention and get it corrected. The way to do that is to raise the flag and call the ref's name. BE SURE your conversation is not overheard. When the AR does this, it in no way overrides the referee's call, it simply adds information to help make the best and/or right call. The referee always has the power to make the final decision - always.

If the referee does not agree, does not heed your call to confer or ignores you, at least you have done your best, and it is all on the ref. Failing to help means the AR has failed the game.

Now, if the situation was one where the facts are unclear, or where the referee might have been giving advantage or decided the offense was trifling or doubtful, the AR's decision process is a bit different. Now the AR must decide if this was a call the referee would have made based on earlier match behavior; that the ref was not well placed to see what happened and it needs dealing with for match control; or it is a call the AR was told in pregame to make if the ref missed it. The AR then must decide whether getting involved is the correct thing for the referee, the game and the players.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
This should be discussed in the pre match discussion between the referee crew. If the referee has made an obvious error in law/judgement he will expect the AR to intervene and advise the referee of what happened/what is correct in Law.
In this case if the ball was passed to the goalkeeper through the use of the thigh which is not an offence then the AR should advise the referee of this and the correct restart is then a dropped ball from where play was stopped. He is not overiding the CR as ultimately the final call rests with the CR not the AR.

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

See Question: 24725