Question Number: 27296

Law 7 - Match Duration 4/6/2013

RE: competitive High School

stephanie allison of kankakee, IL USA asks...

Today in my game there was 17 seconds left and I had a break away. I was on the 18 when he blew the whistle. Is he allowed to call the game on a break away?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Stephanie
I assume you question refers to the referee ending the game. If time has fully expired then the referee ends the game no matter where play is.
NFHS Rules on timing is different from USSF / FIFA. In NFHS games if the referee is designated the 'official timer' then it is the time on her watch that matters. If the watch reaches zero then the game is ended.
In FIFA games the referee has discretion as to the amount of time that is added on for injuries, substitutions etc. Many referees allow play to finish out naturally such as the completion of an attack in added time. Having said that if the referee is using a countdown timer with alarm and she stops the watch for every 'lost time' incident then when it reaches zero the referee also ends play at that very moment.
Perhaps another way to look at it is that the game lasts say 80 minutes and the focus is on the last few seconds. As an experienced coach once said to me
" We can only influence what is under our control. We can't control time or the referee's decision on time"

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Time is up when time is up. Had you been able to run just a little faster, you might have gotten your shot off.

Since you knew there was 17 seconds, I presume this NFHS (high school) game was using the stadium clock. Under NFHS rules, when the time expires it's the end of the game - that's it, no choice in the matter.

In a game played under USSF the referee keeps time on the field, and adds time on to compensate for time lost. Once all that time is gone, the ref will whistle to stop play. The wise referee will not stop the game at a very exciting moment, such as when a player is just about to score. After all, there's too much going on in the game to be looking at the watch to see those last seconds tick away. Having said that though, the ref won't extend the game indefinitely just because you retain possession and might have a shot on goal. While it might seem unfair to take away a scoring chance, it's just as unfair to make the opponents defend any longer once time has expired. If they manage to keep you from shooting in a very short time - a matter of seconds - then the ref should whistle to end the game. The defenders did their job, they kept the attackers from scoring.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

High school (NFHS) rules provide that the match is over when the clock reaches zero. The referee has no discretion to add time. Instead, NFHS rules anticipate that the clock will have been stopped for goals, injuries, cautions and other time delays when they occurred during the match.