Question Number: 27089

Law 7 - Match Duration 12/30/2012

RE: rec Adult

CT of Abbotsford, BC Canada asks...

Final Whistle

Must the ball be in play to blow the whistle for the end of the first half or game?

Should the ref wait until a 'play' is finished before blowing the final whistle?

What would you suggest a good practice would be when calling the end of the game that is fair to both teams?

Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

No, the ball does not have to be in play for the final whistle. Neither must a ref wait until a 'play' is completed. Time is up when time is up.

However time in a soccer/football game is different from most other sports. It is not measured to the exact fraction of a second. (Although in those sports that do that, there is certainly some operator error that doesn't get considered; did the clock operator start and stop exactly correctly every time?) Soccer referees are given unusual powers in that they are allowed to extend time to take into account wastage, and the amount of time that should be added is at the discretion of the referee.

Because of this, traditionally a referee does not blow the whistle for the end of the half when there is an imminent attack. That means different things for different referees. Some won't end the half when the ball is in the 'attacking zone'. To me that is unfair to the defending team. Why must they defend any longer than full time? My interpretation of imminent attack is that the a player has that ball with a good chance to take a shot, and does so very quickly. If time is up, including allowance for wasted time per my estimation, then all I am doing is compensating for any wastage that I may have not considered or not accurately accounted for. That means a few moments to let that attacking player take her shot; if she doesn't do so, then time is up, even if the team is still in an advantageous position.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi CT
There are two schools of thought on timing and ending a half.
There are those that suggest the game should be ended when the referee's stopwatch reaches zero having taking account of all stoppages by stopping the watch. The game then is ended no matter where the ball is or what is happening in the game.
The other school of thought is that the watch is stopped for injuries, lengthy stoppages and an estimate made for substitutions, wasted time etc with the appropriate time added on to the calculation. Clearly in that system a referee can decide 'close' to the end of the match to either allow play to come to a conclusion say at the end of an attack or to end the game in a neutral zone. that means a loss or finding of a few seconds. So whether it is 2.55 or 3.05 the required time has been played
I use the 2nd method and personally I have never ended a game on a promising attack , a corner kick or an attacking free kick. I might also lose say a few seconds when the ball is in a neutral area and by allowing play to continue additional time would have to be found to see out an attack.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You ask a very valid question. What is fair? How is it possibly 'fair' to the defending team to allow an attack continue when you KNOW all time has been used up including time added for whatever reasons you had to add time. I would say over 90% of all referees will add additional time to allow for a corner kick or a promising attack because that's what most of us do but I have never understood nor agreed that favoring the attacking team is a good or fair thing to do.

In answer to your question, if I am certain ALL added time has been used up, the ONLY reason I will extend time is for the taking of a Penalty Kick because Law 14 tells us we must. Other than that, I blow my whistle and end the half/game regardless where the ball is or what action is transpiring.

I have ended many games where there is a promising attack taking place and have been screamed at for doing this but whenever I've asked anyone yelling at me "How would you like it if I extended time just so the other team would have a chance to score on your team?" I'm met with instant silence. Usually I follow that with "Well, that's exactly what you were asking me to do for YOUR team and I don't see how that's remotely fair."