Question Number: 30540

Law 5 - The Referee 6/26/2016

RE: rec Adult

waym of Auckland , New Zealand asks...

A Referee gave a free kick at the edge of the penalty area for a foul during the end of a cup game, an altercation happened between the defender and attacker, He gave the defender a yellow card for over re-acting from a push, and a Red card to the Attacker who punched a player. He then reversed the free kick to the defending team thus winning the cup tie! Is this an correct call on the behalf of the referee??

Thanks for your time!

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Waym,
Anything that happens while the ball is out of play does not change the restart. So, say an attacker is fouled and the referee awards a free kick, and before the kick is taken an attacker punches a defender and is sent off, the attacking team still have a free kick.
However, a referee can change his mind if play hasn't restarted. So if a player awards a free kick to the attacking team but before play restarts realises it was the incorrect decision (maybe he initially signalled the wrong direction, maybe the AR let him know there was something he missed) he change change the decision.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Referees can only change a decision if they got the original decision wrong and play has not restarted. In this instance could the referee have been informed by an AR that the attacker fouled first or that there was offside before the foul or some other offence by the attacking team before the foul?
In this instance assuming that did not happen the dismissal of the attacker changed nothing. If there was a foul on the attacker then play has stopped at that moment and that is the restart. Nothing that happened AFTER that changed anything. Something that happened BEFORE that foul can change the decision or that the referee made an error provided play has not restarted or the game has ended.
Now perhaps the referee simply got the restart wrong with a difficult situation of an attacker striking the defender and getting dismissed. Maybe he was thinking how can a player punch an opponent, is sent off and his team gets the restart. Well that is what the law says. The restart does not change.
As an aside. I note that you are in New Zealand which has a strong rugby tradition. In rugby the violent conduct or misconduct after the foul with the ball out of play can reverse the original decision. If this was a rugby game the decision would be correct!!
Final points. If this was a misapplication of the law then that is grounds for a protest. The outcome would depend on the referees explanation of what happened. If he said he made the wrong initial call then the appeal will be lost. If he says he thought that the red card changed then restart then it will be upheld.
Also the decision did not win or lose the cup tie. There is no way of knowing what would have happened with an attacking free kick. In the EPL it has been shown that in one season 577 kicks resulted in 33 goals or 5.7% which is around the average of 5%. At best there was a 5% chance of a goal which in betting terms would be a very poor bet. If it was a penalty then I would say differently with a conversion rate of almost 90%.