Question Number: 26872

Law 5 - The Referee 10/2/2012

RE: State Premier (travel) Under 14

Kim Leonard of Troy, Mi USA asks...

Hi -
My daughter played in a game this past weekend. On a corner kick of hers we thought for sure it crossed the goal line completely, but they ruled no goal. Later in the game the opposing goalie blocked a shot into the goal just over the line and was cleared by a defender and called no goal. Obviously my view point does not give absolute view if the ball did not end up in the net. The question comes from this though...The coach told the girls that after the game the center ref came up to him and said that he was sorry, he felt both of them were goals, but the linesman stated he was not sure so they were told no goal. He said as the AR (center)ref he can call everything except out of bounds and a goal, the linesman must say that. I thought the center ref had the final word on everything and could over rule the linesmen. They ended in a 1-1 tie that should have potentailly been a 3-1 win. What is the rule about what a center ref can call? Thank you!

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee is responsible for every call. The assistant referee can provide information, but the referee makes the final decision. Sometimes, the final decision is to accept the assistant referee's information.

I suspect what happened is that the referee wasn't sure if a goal was scored, but thought it probably did. The referee asked the assistant referee who also wasn't sure. The assistant referee (from the touchline) usually has a better angle on whether the ball completely crossed the goal line. So, the referee decided to accept the assistant referee's information.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Kim
The referee is responsible for every single call in a game and he is assisted by two assistant referees. If a referee believes that the ball has crossed the goal line then he should award the goal even if there is no flag from the assistant. The assistant can be unsighted, have player in his viewing line etc I suspect what happened here was the referee was unsure and when the assistant who had the side on view of the incident did not flag for a goal the CR decided not to award the goal.
The most recent high profile one of these in Europe was in the UK Cup Semi Final between Tottenham and Chelsea last season. The referee Martin Aitkinson awarded a hair line goal for Chelsea as from his angle he believed the ball had crossed the goal line despite no call from the assistant referee. It was later shown that the call was in error as the ball had in fact not crossed the goal line.
I would also say that 'feeling' that a goal is scored is not good enough. If the referee is uncertain then he can't award the goal particularly when his uncertainty is confirmed by no flag from an assistant.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Perhaps the referee was simply being sympathetic. While the referee makes the final decision - the assistant referee can only assist by offering his opinion - when there's an AR who's in position, the referee will rely on his input 99% of the time.

If neither official is certain that a goal has been scored, then the match will be allowed to continue.

It can be difficult for the referee to tell if the AR is certain the ball hasn't crossed the line, or if he's simply uncertain, and knowing that can impact upon the referee's decision - but as I said, if he isn't absolutely certain then the correct decision isn't to award the goal.

Don't forget, the entire ball needs to have crossed the goal line. Even if a fraction of the ball is on the line, the ball is still in play. This means it's hard enough for those directly in line to judge accurately, and even tougher for those not directly in line.

Realistically the two officials had a better view than most people there, and I've found that a lot of players/spectators will insist that the ball has crossed the line when it is still clearly on the line (even when those people are close to in line with the ball), so sometimes we just have to trust (and hope) that the officials were able to get it right - even if it's just for the sake of our own sanity!