Question Number: 25533

Law 5 - The Referee 10/1/2011

RE: Adult

Steven of Sydney , Nsw Australia asks...

What should a referee say to a player when a person is called on to treat a player , to then get them removed . Without being rude or coming across as not caring ?

Also do younger ones have to be treated off the field etc ?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I find out that the player needs treatment, wave the coach or trainer on, and then stay out of it. There is no need for me to hover or try to get them to leave more quickly. At the level of games I have, there are no stretchers and bearers, so we need to wait until the player is stable enough to be moved off the field mostly under his or her own power. If the player cannot be moved because it's a serious injury (e.g. apparent dislocated hip as I had last week) we may have to wait a long time. So be it, safety first.

And yes, even the U-littles who only need an encouraging word from the coach to recover have to go out. That gets them used to the idea. It also can be a preventative from having coach or mom run out onto the field without permission - you don't have to take action against the adult, but you just say, 'Yes, I know she's OK now, but because you came onto the field to treat her she has to go off. Do you want to put in a sub?'

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

How you deal with a player who goes down with an injury is more important than the words you use.

Imagine (and in a youtube world we all may see) two scenarios where the player goes down. In one, the camera sees an player on the ground, injured, for 20 seconds before a referee walks by, looks at the player and then waves to the coach. The referee then walks away. In the other the referee sprints to the player, leans over, speaks a few words, and then calls to the coach. He then backs away. Which was rude and uncaring?

The laws of the game require that the field player who is attended to on the field must be removed before the match can restart. With U-littles (below U10), no one fakes an injury to delay a game, dissent from a non-call, or to get an opponent cautioned. Young children go down because of momentary pain. They often need an adult to tell them that they are ok, help dry their tears, and let them know it is ok for them to keep playing or give them a choice to sit out. As a referee I may hand them my handkerchief or speak calmly with them, but IMO the adult the child needs to see is the coach or parent.

I believe the spirit of the laws (which is to get the game restarted promptly) is served by stopping play, and allowing the parent/coach to enter when a U-little goes down (a level of "serious" injury far below that for olders and adults), and then let the child remain on the field after they speak to the adult.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Steven
The referee has to form an opinion if the injury is serious or not. If it is not serious play continues to the next stoppage. If it is serious play stops immediately. In either case the referee should then sprint towards the player, ask if he needs treatment and then beckon the coach, medic, physio or whoever onto the field of play. He then should walk away and allow the matter to takes its course. As we do not have the use of stretcher bearers we must wait for the player to be removed and the game then restarts.
At underage I ask the young players to leave the field of play. One it gets them used to the concept, secondly its part of the Laws and thirdly when the player is beckoned back on the responsibility for his fitness has been taken by whoever makes that decision.