Question Number: 26333

League Specific 5/14/2012

RE: club Under 17

brandon wills of sydney, nsw australia asks...

this is a wierd question but on the weekend there was 5 mins of play left and we were down 2-1, we got fowled and the ref gives it to the opposition and we complain why. the ref then blows the whistle and then says f**k you's all and walked off with 5 mins still in play. so we then watch him just walk off and the game was still progressing and then we have to shack the oppositions hands and then we walked off to our teams and our coach lets us know that the ref will make it a 0-0 all score line because there was still time to play in the game. now ive only just found out that the opposition still gets 3 points when it should be a draw by defalt

my question is that is it a draw and should the ref be suspended? do you understand where im coming from the fact was that the ref promised nil all draw but when i went on to the ghfa site it came up with us loosing is this right at all and tell me what are your thoughts?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

This is a very strange one!

In short though, these aren't really questions we can answer. The referee cannot 'award' a nil-all scoreline or any other sort of result. All he can do - if he's done his paperwork properly - is record what the score was at time of abandonment, which minute that was and leave it for the local association to determine the result.

They will take a number of factors into consideration there making that decision - including, but not limited to, the time remaining and the reason for abandonment.

The competition rules should state the minimum time elapsed for a result to stand (often around 75% of the match), but that is still often subject to the FA's decision. Assuming it's been reported properly.

So, ultimately, what happens to the result will be up to the FA, and not the referee.

Regarding whether the referee should be suspended - the referee's association cannot address the referee's actions if nobody brings it to their attention. If you believe that his actions need to be addressed then organise with your club for a letter of complaint to be submitted (and if you know anybody on the other team, talk to them about whether their club will be submitting a complain). The RA will look at the reports then make a decision on how to deal with the complaint.

You say the GHFA site shows your team losing - is this the 2-1 loss? If so, I'd anticipate that result probably would stand (having so little of the match remaining), but if you want to ensure that the proper processes have been followed then get your club to chase it up with GHFA to find out if the match was reported as completed or abandoned, and how the result was determined.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brandon
First off the referee cannot make it a 0-0 draw and there is no draw default position. The match either was finished with a result or it was abandoned. So one of two things has happened. The referee either reported the game as abandoned with the local FA making a decision to allow the score to stand or that he reported the game as finished.
It is not unusual for a local FA to award the game to the team in the lead with 5 minutes to go when the cause for the abandonment is the team that is behind. I have seen that happen in different Leagues where the FA took a dim view of the behaviour of the losing team and awarded the game to the opponents. Also all referees know that a game that has been played cannot be reported incorrectly with a 0-0 result. That just does not happen.
What I have also seen happen is that with perhaps confusion about timing that a game had in fact ended. So it is not outside the bounds of possibility that the game was in fact ended by the referee and the result of 2-1 was reported.
The only body that can clear this up is the local FA who got the match report.
What I will say is that the referee may have had to endure a high level of dissent and abuse during the game which perhaps caused him to react as alleged. If that is the case your team needs to ensure that it treats referees with respect in future games. I might add that the referee should not have swore as alleged and referees should act professionally at all times even when we might feel frustrated and irate.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

When the referee abandons the match before the expiration of time, the league decides what happens next. Some have local rules that cover the situation; others leave it for a committee. There is no standard answer.

There also are procedures for disciplinary proceedings against a referee. The match report should indicate why the referee abandoned the match. The league and referee association will usually look closely at matches abandoned for reasons other than weather/darkness.