Question Number: 27377

Law 7 - Match Duration 4/30/2013

RE: Competitive Under 13

Dan of Tinton falls, Nj Ysa asks...

Opponent runs into keeper after goal scored, all the way into bacl post, injuring keeper.
Goal count?
Any foul?

Second question:
Time out, team has a breakaway. Blow whistle to end game or see play through?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Nothing that occurs when the ball is out of play can affect the restart (ie anything that happened while it was still in play).

This means that if the ball has already crossed the goal line, then nothing that occurs afterwards can change this. The offence has occurred while the ball is out of play.

You'd then consider whether a card is necessary. Was it completely unintentional? How late was it, and how forceful? An aggressive act, or simply inattentive? Was it violent? Card as appropriate.

A foul can only occur while the ball is in play.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dan
The key decision here is whether the goal was scored before or after any foul occurred. If the goal was scored then play has been stopped and nothing can change the restart. If however any foul happened on the goalkeeper before the goal was scored then the restart is a direct free kick to the defending side.
If there is any doubt then IMO the best decision is to go with the foul.
As regards whether there is a foul or not depends on the judgement of the referee. Running into the goalkeeper IMO would be careless and a charging foul. If both player collided by accident and neither were at fault then there is no foul.
The referee can take action for misconduct while play is stopped. So if the referee deemed that the player's actions were reckless then he should caution the player for unsporting behaviour.
As regards the timing question that all depends on the referee's timing method. Some referee's stop their watch for every signle lost time stoppage and when the watch reaches zero the game is stopped. If however like me I stop the watch for significant incidents such as injuries but add an allowance for substitutions I will add on a few seconds to see out a play.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

1. Yes the goal counts as the action took place after the goal was scored. Also, since the ball was out of play there can be no foul, only misconduct. The referee must decides if the action was inadvertant,accidental, and had no bearing on the game (doubtful) where no punishment is doled out, or if it was misconduct warranting a yellow or red card. From your description, could be either.

2. This depends upon the referee and that referee's take as to when the match ends. I have never understood how it is remotely fair to add additional time after you decide ALL time has been accounted for, simply because a team is mounting an attack with a reasonable chance at scoring a goal. I am in the minority on this but if all time has been accounted for, I stop the game. In high school and college games there is a time clock that goes off when time is up. This takes the decision out of the referee's hands and the game stops when the buzzer goes off.