Question Number: 27378

Law 5 - The Referee 4/30/2013

RE: competive Under 19

Neil of REHOBOTH, MA, ma ma asks...

defender passes ball back to goalkeeper who is at the six, goalkeeper slips and ball hits off hands and i blew the whistle just as ball enters net.I let goal stand am i rightor wrong on this decision.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the whistle went before the ball crossed the line, it's not a goal. You said 'just as' - only you know whether the ball was scored before or after your whistle.

Like the rest of us, you've learned the wisdom of having a slow whistle. Look for and apply advantage when it exists. There's no better advantage than a goal.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Neil
The technical answer is that once the referee stops play with a whistle then no further play can be allowed.
In your situation the decision should have been to play advantage and to allow the goal. As a goal had been scored and if there was no possible doubt that players had been influenced by the whistle such as stopping or you were unsure that the ball had in fact not crossed the line before the whistle then your decision to award the goal was the 'best' decision.
Good learning point here. Delay the whistle in these situation and ' wait and see'.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Did you blow the whistle before or after all the ball crossed over all the goal line? If before, you are faced with the embarrassing task of telling the team that scored that you blew a quick whistle, could not apply advantage, disallow the goal, and restart with an Indirect Free Kick to the attackers on the six yard line.
If you held your whistle 2-3 seconds as we are instructed to do when things happen in the penalty or goal areas this wouldn't be an issue as you would allow advantage and award a goal.
If you decide you blew your whistle AFTER the ball went completely over the goal line, you've caused yourself a different kind of problem. The whistle does NOT stop play. The whistle is an indication that you have ALREADY stopped play. S0, when did you stop play? In my opinion, once you blow that whistle, you have told everyone that you stopped play when the keeper handled the ball. In either case, you cannot award the goal.
The only way around this would be to say you blew the whistle to indicate a goal had been scored which would be an incorrect use of the whistle but would allow you to do what should have been done in the first place which would be to award the goal due to the awarding of advantage. Of course, almost no one at the game would question you if you simply said "I blew the whistle after the ball crossed over the goal line" as almost everyone at a soccer match believes the whistle is the event that actually stops play.

Lesson to be learned: for actions inside the penalty area always adopt a wait and see attitude.