Question Number: 25345

League Specific 8/22/2011

RE: select Under 14

Terry Lefevre of Bay City, mi usa asks...

During the championship game of a local tournament, the game ended in a 0-0 draw. Winner to be decided by kicks from the mark. All proper procedures were followed in the selection of the first 5 kickers from each team and in the preparation for kicks. First kicker for Team #1 misses the kick from the mark. First kicker for Team #2 makes the kick from the mark. There is a lightning strike and all subsequent play is terminated and the match is finished. What should be the outcome of the match? Tournament officials ruled that the game ended in a draw and since the full process of 5 penalty kicks per team was not completed, the entire process of kicks from the mark is not valid. Tournament rules state 'Inclement Weather during the game: Should a game's process be terminated due to weather after twenty minutes of play; the game will be considered official and the score at that time will stand.'

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Terry
IMO correct decision by the tournament officials. KFTPM are not part of the match and as KFTPM were not completed then there cannot be a result other than 0-0 as per the rules.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The referee decided that the game was halted for thunder and lighting - a good thing! Deciding the winner is is not a matter for referees to decide, but for the tournament committee. They ruled a draw, so it's a draw. One could easily surmise that the tournament rule as written was meant only for games that were in the round-robin stage of the tournament. I wonder what prohibited the teams from coming back after the storm passed to complete the kicks from the penalty mark to determine the winner.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The Kicks phase was not completed properly so the score when the referee terminated the match was 0-0. The tournament guidelines (while perhaps ill advised) seem clear.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Here's the rub. Tournament committees can make whatever decision they want to, no matter what their rules say, if something comes up that was unanticipated by those very rules.

My colleagues note why this was a correct decision in this case.