Question Number: 30395

Law 5 - The Referee 5/9/2016

RE: Select Under 19

Mark McCullough of New Albany, Ohio United States asks...

My son participated in a tournament this past weekend where a referee did something I or anyone else there had ever seen. 10 min into the match the coach made a comment regarding an unsafe play and the referee (without any warning to the coach) immediately dismissed the coach from the game. The field director escorted the coach off the field and told him to stay in an area by the parents. The ref restarted the game and about 1 min later stopped the game, approached the coach and told him to leave the area. The coach indicated this was where the field director told him to go. Ref again told the coach to leave and again the coach said this is where he was told to go. The ref then ended the game. Based on these facts, and there is video of this exchange, does this ref have the authority to end a match based on what transpired?

Additionally, both teams were upset at this decision and gathered around the ref asking why the game was ended. One player stepped forward and asked the ref several times who his supervisor was. The ref responded by saying 'Are you going to get up in my face and do something?' The player just asked again who his supervisor was. About 10 minutes later the coach and player were told the police were being called, an assault charge would be filed, and they would have to remain to make a statement to the police. I was there and absolutely no contact was ever made. We found out later that the police were not called, but that was a terrible thing to tell an 18 year old and have him believe the police were coming to arrest him.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mark
Very unpleasant circumstances.
Simple answer is yes to the abandonment question. The coach must not act in an irresponsible manner which includes questioning referee calls. His role is to coach the team. So the referee has the power to remove the coach without warning from the technical area if he deems that the coach acted or spoke inappropriately. The referee is also entitled to have the coach removed from the field of play and surrounds which means out of sight of the field. When the coach refused this request the referee was entitled to abandon the game under Law 5. The facts of the abandonment have to be reported.
Now in these aggressive situations I have no doubt that tempers were raised and it was a very unpleasant situation. Confrontations such as this can escalate into something more. It would have been best had everyone walked away to allow the matter to calm down. Shouting about supervisors, questioning authority and being in each others face is not good or helpful in an already tense situation.

Answer provided by Referee James Sowa

Mark,

Sounds like a fun weekend. The referee was technically correct in every instance described above. If he felt the coach's behavior was inappropriate (which clearly he did), then he has every right to dismiss the coach. Once dismissed, the coach must leave the field. In a professional match, this means the locker room or the stands. In a youth match, this usually means the parking lot or a distance far away from the field.

While the field marshal told the coach to sit on the parent's side, the referee has every right to require the coach to leave the area and the referee is in charge of the players and coaches, not the marshal. So, when the referee told the coach to leave, the coach should have left. Since he refused to, the referee chose to abandon the match which is again within his rights.

I will not comment on the last part as I am sure there are numerous missing details which led to the referee making this claim.

So, question answered, the referee is technically correct. What could have happened differently?

1) The immediate dismissal. Based solely on what is presented here, a warning may have been in order for the coach. That said, it is impossible to determine tone, situation, and other pertinent details without having been there.

2) After the dismissal. Once the coach was dismissed, the referee should have made it clear to the field marshal that the game would not restart until the coach was out of sight of the field. If this happens, then #3 doesn't

3) Coach on the sideline. If the coach is quiet, ignore him. Clearly the referee had been offended by what the coach had said and wanted him out of the area. Once discovered, the referee was within his right to require the coach to leave.

4) Match termination. The coach should have left when requested. He was trying to show up the referee by staying. I have no issue with the referee terminating the match in this situation. The only thing I would say is that once the decision is made, leave the field immediately. Do not give the players time to argue and complain to you.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Generally when a coach is dismissed, he is to leave the area of 'sight and sound'. He was dismissed for a reason, so we don't want the aggravation of him staying around. And if a coach refuses to go, then the game should be abandoned. I had this happen on a U12 game. Sigh.

If the event had a specific rule that allowed the dismissed coach to go to the spectator area, then the ref was incorrect. But if the rules of the competition provided for that, I'd be surprised. And I'd be reluctant to accept games in such a competition.