Question Number: 24885

Law 3 - Number of Players 5/6/2011

RE: Rec Under 17

James of Santa Monica, CA USA asks...

True or False:

1) Center Ref must be informed (not just AR) when a player changes places with a Goal Keeper.

2) If CR is not informed of such a change, a yellow card may be issued (for unsporting behavior?).

3) Coach/Team/Player must have specific permission from the Center Ref to substitute a Goal Keeper with a player on the bench (or is this considered a substitution like any other?).

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi James
1. The referee must be informed of the change
2. Both players must be cautioned
3. Changing the goalkeeper at a substitution is the same as any other substitution. The Laws do not differentiate

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

1. The REFEREE must be informed. No requirement the AR be informed and doesn't matted if AR informed.
2. MUST be issued at next stoppage. Referee does NOT stop play to issue the caution.
3. This is like any other substitution. Requirements of Law 3 must be met. A big difference between keeper change and a keeper substitution is that a keeper change may be done anytime during kicks from the penalty mark but the only time a keeper substitution during the KFTPM phase may be allowed is if the keeper is injured.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Really, James! Law 3 is pretty clear about what is and is not allowed with substitutions and the procedures involved.

Center Referee is redundant - the term is 'referee' or 'center', since anyone who is not the referee or the center is an AR or a 4th official. Sorry - personal rant.

A substitute, whether a keeper or field player, always needs permission from the referee to enter the field on a substitution. And that has to be a specific permission each time, no matter what position the substitute will play. It follows that permission can only be given if the referee is informed of the desire to make a change.

Law 3 tells us that if a keeper change is made without informing the referee (usually, although not alway, one field player switches with the keeper), the referee waits until the next stoppage (in other words, she doesn't stop play for the illegal switch) and cautions both the new and the previous keeper. The new keeper is the keeper, so in between the switch and the time of the caution, the new keeper can handle the ball inside her own PA. The old keeper has no such privileges.

Now, referees doing unlimited substitution games with youth players shouldn't play gotcha with teams. If the red team had one keeper in the first half, and at the beginning of the second half, the referee can tell there is a different keeper - voila, she has been informed!

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

See Question: 24905