Question Number: 27979

Law 5 - The Referee 11/6/2013

RE: AYSO U12

Evan Kirshenbaum of Mountain View, California USA asks...

A situation came up in a game I called last week where, while I'm pretty sure I did the correct thing for the age group (U12 rec), I'm not actually sure of the officially correct answer.

In the process of punting the ball, the red keeper's shoe flew off. Green collected the ball and passed it to the side to prepare for an attack, and, seeing as there was a pause in the action, I blew my whistle, let the red keeper retrieve his shoe, and restarted with a drop ball for green. The green coach wasn't happy, but I sold it, and play went on.

My reasoning was that this fell under the notion that a player isn't allowed to intentionally play the ball without shoes, but that it wasn't reasonable for red to have to play without a keeper until the shoe could be regained and replaced. And that it sort of fell under the rule 5 interpretation exceptions for when 'a goalkeeper is injured', implying that keepers get more leeway when deciding to stop play when they are incapacitated. Had an attack been in progress, I would have allowed it to continue but would have allowed the keeper to play the ball.

So what should I have done, and what should I do in higher-level games?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Evan
Probably only likely to happen at Underage.
Anyway let's be clear about some matters. The goalkeeper is treated the same as any other player under the Laws with the exception that he can touch the ball with his hands inside the penalty area and play cannot start or restart without him. He is subject to the same conditions as an outfield player on an injury with the one exception that he does not have to leave the field of play for treatment. By convention rather than in Law many referees stop the game for 'injuries' to goalkeeper. A goalkeeper lying down with a minor injury has no more rights than an outfield player. On a breakaway if a goalkeeper lays down 'injured' with a cramp after advancing towards the ball should the referee stop play? No is the answer.
Anyway as the Red goalkeeper was not involved in play after losing his footwear it was somewhat crystal ball gazing as to what would happen next. Perhaps the Green attacker would have had a shot or that he might have been challenged by a defender, lost the ball, gone out of play. None of those events would have required the Red goalkeeper to put himself in any risk of having to play the ball or challenge opponents without footwear.
I believe that the correct decision would have been to allow play to continue until the next natural stoppage and then allow the goalkeeper to correct his equipment if he had not already done so. As the team has to have a goalkeeper to restart play the goalkeeper does not have to leave the field of play to correct the equipment.
If the goalkeeper got involved in play in a way that put himself at risk then that is playing in a dangerous manner and punished by an IDFK.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The process is the same at higher levels. Watch the players. If both teams stop trying to play the ball because something weird has happened, the referee should stop play. You don't need one team to kick the ball out. Law 5 gives discretion to the referee to suspend the match and stop play. Restart with a dropped ball.

At higher levels, however, you will find that the keeper will keep playing without a shoe. All the other players will continue to play. The keeper will regain the shoe at the next stoppage in play. The referee observes the players, and allows play to continue. (Even at the professional level, however, you will sometimes see the referee hold up a restart because someone is tying the keeper's shoelaces.)