Question Number: 30150

Other 2/27/2016

RE: Amatuer Adult

Wayne Pople of Bristol, Avon England asks...

Team A play a direct ball forward to the 2 strikers, linesman for team B raises flag for offside, referee blows the whistle and stops play. Defender for team B passes the ball back the GK to take the free kick but the ball goes into the back of the net. Team A continue to complain that it wasn't offside so referee goes to the linesman to clarify which player he had given offside against. After a short discussion referee decides it wasn't offside, he'd blown the whistle in error and awards a goal to team A. In the ensuing argument the GK for team B shouts at the referee (without swearing) how can he award a goal to team A when it was scored by a defender AFTER play had been stopped. Referee turns to Gk says 'F@*k off mouthy' player responds with 'what was that you f@*king pri*k?' Referee sends player off. My question is, what law in the game allows the referee to award the goal and why was the player sent off when it was the ref who instigated the escalation in language?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Wayne,
your question is indeed one in desperate of need of an answer. The awful truth is there is nothing that can be said that will make this worthy of discussion if your tale is true other than to point out referees are human and can be as wrong as anyone.

The match has been compromised by the actions of the referee in he has altered the LOTG in a way that requires a review committee to step in and adjudge some sort of match altering readdress. The referee can not award a goal if he has stopped play and play was not restarted. If it was an inadvertent whistle the correct start is a drop ball. For a referee to employ foul and abusive language is another dagger in the officiating book of integrity.

Clearly you should ensure a report to the assignor and league on the conduct and ability of this referee is assembled so some sort of retraining /discipline is imposed on the official.

What does the referee match report say? Will it corroborate your version of events? Or will the referee alter the events to fit the LOTG? He could say , I whistled for the offside, defender restarted with a pass to his keeper who bobbled the ball and it entered the goal under the crossbar between the posts for an own Goal! He expressed a certain level of dissent I told be to be quiet he responded with abuse I showed the red card sent him off reduced his team by a player.

Now such an explanation fits with what occurred
Unless the ball passed to the keeper on this supposed restart for an INDFK offside entered the goal directly THEN it would be an corner kick still no goal. OR if the defender was inside his PA when he passed the ball said ball is not in play until it completely exits the PA then it is a retake of the indfk for offside. All I can say this referee better have his story straight if your version is the full truth!! Sometimes the truth is a perception of what we thought it was not what was.. As I point out His Match His Decision His Reputation.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Oh dear. This is a worry.

A referee can change his decision assuming play has not restarted - so he can certainly consult with his AR over an offside decision. This is more likely to happen when the ball has ended up in the net before play was stopped - when play was stopped in the middle of the field, there's probably no reason to. But, that's purely a refereeing behaviour - nothing illegal about doing so.

But, if he has stopped play and then changes his decision to 'no offence', the only possible restart is a drop ball as play has been stopped for a reason not previously specified within the laws.

As we know, the whistle is used to stop play. The laws have a passage on when a spectator uses a whistle, which state (p72 - the LOTG are available on the FIFA site), if play is affected then the referee must stop play and restart with a drop ball.

While this is a different case, at least here we can see the laws talking about players responding to a whistle being a key issue here. However, the referee here has not accidentally blown his whistle - he has deliberately, clearly but incorrectly (in his mind) blown it. Play stops when he blows the whistle, and the players have responded. It's utterly absurd to have players begin preparing for a free kick in response to a whistle and then claim that all of that was general play. I can't even begin to imagine the mindset that thinks this is acceptable. It's a serious error in law which has affected the match result and the referee desperately needs reporting to the league, if this story is accurate.

As for the argument with the goalkeeper.......Nothing much I can say there. Given the goalkeeper did use Offensive, Insulting and/or Abusive language the referee can send him off regardless of the situation. Of course the referee certainly shouldn't be using that language himself and I couldn't say whether that would be taken into consideration or not if appealed. The argument could be made that regardless of what the referee said, the keeper is responsible for his comments. Of course, if those referee comments are accurate, that's serious misconduct and would likely result in a suspension for the referee if proven.

Proving those comments could be difficult, if not impossible. Referees find themselves the subject of maliciously and deliberately false complaints at times, and the assignors have to take that into consideration. I myself have suffered a complaint with the completely untrue allegation that I swore at a junior player. This was from a coach who gave me quite a bit of dissent after the match after his team lost and suffered the majority of fouls. It could be a maliciously false complaint, it could be a simple case of somebody mishearing something I said or attributing a comment from somebody else to my mouth. I'm choosing to believe it's one of the latter two and the assignors would also have to consider that possibility.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Wayne
What a shambles. Unfortunately incidents like this as alleged here do bring refereeing into disrepute and for those that do the role correctly and impeccably it is extremely disappointing.
Anyway here is the position in the law. Once the referee blew his whistle for the offence no further play could happen. If the referee based on further information from the assistant referee or linesman decided that there could not have been an offside then the only possible restart was a dropped ball at the location of the ball when play was stopped with the whistle. That is the only possible restart. It is not possible to award the goal after play was stopped. Even if he decided that there was offside and allowed the restart an own goal could not be scored directly from any free kick.
As to the sending off this is extremely disappointing and as alleged it brings this referee into disrepute. All I can say is that the language needs no comment just that it needs reporting to the FA, warts and all and allow due process to take place. Unfortunately a sending off for using offensive, insulting and abusive language cannot be appealed. The goalkeeper here was guilty of using offensive, insulting and abusive language. That though does not prevent the Club for reporting the referee for his behaviour. I might add that the League may be aware of poor behaviour in the past from certain officials. Referees are not above the Law and action can and should be taken. I suspect the difficulty will be the availability of independent evidence as to what was said and by whom yet I know from experience is that opinions can be formed over a period of time.
The explanation of the goal award would be interesting and that will have a significant bearing on the complaint.