Question Number: 25554

Law 5 - The Referee 10/4/2011

RE: competitive High School

Nivea of SanJuan, PR US asks...

Today we had a strange game.
First, during the game a mother of our team yelled to a player of another team 'don' be a baby, get up and play', or sorts, after the ball was taken from him. The player yells to her 'Shut up'. Our team captain, goes to the player and tells him 'Here women are respected'. Which he replies 'she yelled at me first' (she's a screaming fan). Then their team representative runs into to field from the bleachers to tell the ref they are tired of the woman's comments. Can a spectator/coach stop the game like that?
Second, the ball goes in to the goal, rebounds on the posts support tube, which are inside the goal, back to the field. The ref did not count the goal? Is this fair?
And last, our player running with the ball into the area. It's just him and the keeper. The keeper tackles him into the ground with so much force it couldn't have been a slip (like he claims). The ref called a PK, but did not give him any cards. What rules applies here? Our player makes the PK and misses. The rebound comes to him and he kicks, the keeper stops it, the ball rebounds again towards the kicker and he makes the goal. The goal did not count. The Ref said he was offside. What rules apply here? Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

A team official has absolutely no right to run onto the field like this, and the referee may in fact see this person removed from the vicinity of the field of play for this offence.

The referee can call on the officials from the other team to deal with the woman in question, even removing her from the vicinity, but that's a judgement for him to make.

As for the second - hard to tell why the goal was disallowed. Perhaps the referee thought the ball hit one of the outside posts and didn't actually enter the goal? It can be difficult to tell sometimes, particularly with an obstructed view. Hard to tell if it was this or some other reason (such as the ref spotting a foul before the goal) without more information, or even knowing what happened afterwards (ie if play continued or was stopped for a free kick, or some other reason).

As for 3rd incident - if the attacker has an obvious goalscoring opportunity (and running directly towards the goal, with the ball at his feet and only the keeper to beat would certainly qualify for that), then any foul committed by the keeper must see a red card. It's either a foul and a red card, or no foul. If the attacker has angled away from goal at the last moment then this may mean he's no longer considered to have an obvious goalscoring opportunity, which would allow the keeper to remain on the park.

As for the penalty kick - the kicker is not allowed to touch the ball until it's touched another player, including the keeper. If it hits the crossbar and comes back to him, and he touches it, then it's an indirect free kick to the defence (unless the ref thinks the keeper got a touch on it). I can't possibly imagine where his offside decision came from as there's no possible way for offside to occur here without another attacker being involved (you can't put yourself offside from your own touch) - it's a simple double touch violation. The decision was correct but the reasoning was wrong.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Eventful game and the referee certainly had plenty to deal with.
On the 1st incident I wish spectators would simply spectate and only shout encouragement to the team that they support. Getting involved with players on the field of play in the manner described is unsporting and it goes against all the codes including NFHS' s. There is no excuse for this and it leads to ill feeling on the field of play. As regards the team representative running on to the field of play that is certainly not allowed and the referee has to take action to deal with this. As you can see the chain of events that happens when a code is not followed. As a referee I am very mindful of interaction between players and those on the sideline. This incident just because of a call from a spectator had the potential to get players sent off, a coach dismissed and perhaps more.
On the second situation I would suspect that the referee did not see the ball enter the goal and that he believed that the ball rebounded off the goal post. In many cases now these metal support tubes have been removed for this very reason. In a game I did last week the ball hit a similar metal support and it came back out instantly. My first reaction was one of ' that's a goal' and then the players celebrated. The defender picked the ball up which made life very easy as there was no debate about the goal. I have to say I was not 100% sure and if there is any doubt it cannot be given. I attach a link to a video of goals that were nor awarded because the referee nor his assistant seen the ball enter the goals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HCiBrKjNKE
That is just part of the game.
On the final incident the referee after the award of the penalty has to consider whether the GK should have been cautioned or dismissed or neither. If the GK's action denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity by meeting all the 4 conditions required to assess whether it was one or not then he is shown a red card and dismissed. If the GK actions were in the opinion of the referee reckless only then he is cautioned. If he is not, in the opinion of the referee, not guilty of any of these then there is no sanction.
As regards the final event the player may not touch the ball again at a penalty kick until it has touched another player which can be the goalkeeper. If the ball rebounds of the frame of the goal and the kicker touches the ball it is a double touch infringement and an indirect free kick. There cannot be offside at a penalty kick as all the players must be behind the ball before the kick is taken. When the kick is taken offside consideration applies again but the kicker cannot be offside from his own playing of the ball even if it rebounds off an opponent. The ball has to be played bya player to a team mate in an offside position before offside can be called.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

A school administrator (unlike a parent/spectator) has a role in high school athletics. The school administrator has the power to remove unruly parents and spectators - - and often does so in consultation with the referee. The referee is empowered to deal with the behavior of players, substitutes, and other bench personnel. Parents have no right to speak to, yet alone, taunt opposing players.

The referee must decide if a goal has been scored or not. All of the ball must cross all of the line. The referee likely decided that the ball bounced off the front cross-bar, not one in the rear. That judgment call is not subject to protest or appeal.

Similarly, whether to call a foul (in this case a penalty kick) or to send off the keeper is a judgment call for the referee based on whether the referee believed that the foul denied an 'obvious goal scoring opportunity.' That depends on the location of the forward and keeper, other defenders, and the ball. Similarly, whether or not to caution the keeper in this circumstance is left to the judgment of the referee whether or not the foul was reckless or tactical.

The original kicker on a penalty kick cannot be offside in the situation you described. Offside position is judged when a teammate touches the ball, and you do not describe any teammate of the original kicker touching the ball. The referee made an error in the application of the laws. Some school leagues provide for protests in such situations.