Question Number: 29947

Law 3 - Number of Players 11/29/2015

Cigal of anywhere, North America asks...

I understand you cannot force a player to leave if he is supposed to be substituted? A player about to be substituted refuses to leave the field of play. So do you caution the player, talk to the captain again to encourage the player to leave the field of play quickly, abandon the game until the player leaves the field of play, play should be restarted and continues?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Cigal
The referee has no control over player substitutions. If a player refuses to leave then the referee simply restarts play and the game continues.
Law 3 advice refers
** If a player who is about to be replaced refuses to leave the field of play, play continues**
If there was some tardiness in the restart then the referee may have to threaten to take action against the player delaying the restart. If it is the opponents restart they will no doubt get on with play.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

No, you simply blow your whistle and get on with the game. If the player doesn't want to leave, that's for him and his manager to sort out after the game.