Question Number: 26327

Law 5 - The Referee 5/12/2012

RE: rec Adult

alex of richmond hill, ontario canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 26313

This has always been a difficult area for me. It is easy if I am looking at a player when he speaks something that I need to take action. However, the problem arises if I hear something coming from behind me.

All the advise I saw so far is if the referee does not see it, it never happens. Mr. Wickham brought up the issue of circumstantial evidences. 'It is so unlikely that a member of the kicking team would say it, that the referee's judgment seemed entirely correct.' So is it correct by the law to act according to this kind of judgment?

In addition, if there are several players in that area which are potential suspects and you are unable to get a confession, then how do you restart the game as you cannot pinpoint the offending player?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alex
All referees have been in that position of being unable to identify a guilty player so that the appropriate action can be taken. Sometimes the offence can be 'minor' such as minor dissent or a shout such as 'miss it' at a penalty kick and perhaps action can and should be taken as in the case of the retaken penalty based on the 'evidence'. Other times we just have to take it on the chin, file it away and move on.
Where the referee IMO cannot take action is where he has not seen violent conduct or is unable to identify who used offensive, insulting and abusive language. While the referee will have strong suspicions the integrity of the sending off report cannot be compromised with an untruth such as the referee saw the incident or identified the culprit. We just have to acknowledge that circumstances worked against the proper action being taken. The restart will be the basis of why play was stopped such as an out of play restart. If play has been stopped to deal with an unseen incident then the restart is a dropped ball from where the ball was when play was stopped.
To give an example. In a heated game a number of years ago I had occasion to caution a player for unsporting behaviour for a poor challenge. While doing so an opponent struck a player behind my back. How strong or the manner I'm not sure just that a player was on the ground. I did not see the 'offence' but I had strong suspicions of who committed it and he was the player singled out by the opponents. After order was brought to the situation the offending player's team mates including the captain said that I did not see the incident which was correct. I then told the captain that if the player as much as sneezed for the remainder of the game he would be happily dismissed as I believed he was involved in the incident. The player was promptly substituted before the restart which was for the original foul. I apologised at the end of the game to the opponents for missing the incident. So it was a result of sorts where the player took no further part albeit that his team did not play short. Had I sent off the player I would have had to say that I did not see the incident and that is not going to be accepted by a disciplinary panel. To say otherwise is an untruth and referees must have integrity.
What it did remind me of is how important positioning is in the caution / stoppage situation and in difficult games the wider angled view is perhaps more important so that as many players as possible are in view at all times.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

We should never make up a call. If you hear something, but cannot identify the miscreant, you cannot punish it unless the miscreant admits the wrongdoing. A story around here goes something like this: The referee stopped play to deal with a player who punched another player. When he got to the spot and showed him the red, the player asked where the red card was for the guy who just spit on him! Well, there was the spittle right on his jersey but the referee hadn't seen it. Uh oh. So, clever referee than he was, he turned to the likely suspect (the guy that got punched) and asked him what the other player had done to make him so mad he spit on him. And the guy proceeded to tell him. Ah, so the story here had a happy ending - both teams played short a player. But without the quick thinking of the referee, and the compliance of the guilty party, the referee could not have issued the card. Now, we know who did it, and we can watch them like a hawk, for the rest of the game; their happy ass will be in trouble if they so much as look sideways - but that is not making up a call, it is using the discretion given to us to keep the game safe and fair.

It is not so much that the incident didn't happen, it's just if a member of the referee crew did not see it, and no one will step up and confess, we cannot punish it (directly). These are very difficult situations for referees, and require skill and backbone. The best medicine is prevention, which positioning and presence during the game will help. We help no one when we make up stuff.

Regarding something that is said that sounds like something the referee should deal with if it was by one team against the other, I would advise acting instead of reacting. Watch the reactions of the other team. If they are not paying attention or give a flying flip, neither should you. Take your cues from the players. If they are offended or otherwise unfairly affected by the words/action, they will most certainly let you know, and you can act then.

If you stopped play to deal with such a situation, but you don't know who did what and no one will confess (hopefully you never have to stop without knowing who did what, because shows you aren't seeing the big picture to the players), then the only possible restart is a dropped ball, because you can't issue a card for misconduct.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

There are some things the referee can deduce, without making an assumption. Examples include who last touched the ball by observing changes in the path of the ball as it passes by a player. We don't need to see the touch to know it occurred.

The original situation involved a penalty kick in which someone engaged in unsporting behavior to disrupt the kicker, and the referee decided that the conduct affected the unsuccessful kick. Law 14 permits the kick to be ordered retaken because of the infringement by any member of the defending team and the kick did not result in a goal. IMO, the referee does not need to know which member of the kicking team.

But, the referee must know which one did what in order to caution a player. If a player is lying on the ground bleeding, and #6 is smiling close at hand, the referee cannot assume that #6 is the one who did it simply because someone must have. (Fortunately, with two assistant referees, they usually have seen enough bits for the referee team collectively to reach the correct decision.)