Question Number: 30884

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/10/2016

RE: College

Ahmed Shah of Ankara, Turkey asks...

I was the referee in a tournament game in my college and I blew the whistle almost immediately when I saw a foul occur at the edge of the penalty area. However, in the next few seconds, another of the attacking team's players latched onto the ball and hit a shot off the far post and in. The time between the goal and the foul on the edge of the area was maybe 1-2 seconds. I reversed my decision for the foul on the edge of the area and allowed the goal to stand. My judgement was that the goalkeeper's attempt to save was not affected by the foul a couple of seconds ago and the play or any of the players didn't actually stop because there was so little time between my whistle and the goal. Did I make the wrong decision? What should I have done?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ahmed
According to the Laws of the Game the goal could not be allowed as play had been stopped by the whistle. So the decision to award the goal was in error. What should have happened was that the player committing the foul should have been sanctioned with at least a caution and if all the 4 conditions of denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity were present the player should be dismissed. The restart is a direct free kick.
In the 2006 Champions League final between Arsenal and Barcelona something similar happened. Lehmann of Arsenal fouled Eto of Barca just outside the penalty area. Referee Terge Hague blew immediately for a foul and as he did so the ball rolled to a Barca player who scored. See video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xRZe-qaZQn0&t=0m50s
The referee had no choice but to disallow the goal, send of the goalkeeper for a DOGSO and restart with a direct free kick. He regretted that decision due to his eagerness to deal with the foul and blow the whistle. Had he not done so he could have awarded the goal and cautioned the GK. It took Barca until the 81 minute to equalise and go on to win the game. Had Barca been beaten on the night he would have felt even greater regret for having to disallow the goal.
Learning point is to wait and see which is referred to by some as *swallowing the whistle*. That gives the referee thinking time to make the best call in the circumstance which in your case was to play advantage. Advantage cannot be played when the game is stopped by the whistle.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Ahmed,
As referee McHugh indicated, your decision to allow the goal was incorrect. As indicated in College Rule 9.2.2 on page 43 of the NCAA Rules Book, the ball is out of play when the whistle sounded. The possible incorrect sounding of the whistle is one reason why the whistle is not kept in the mouth as is done by basketball referees. Having the whistle in your hand allows you time to observe what occurs after the foul. When I go from refereeing soccer to refereeing basketball, it sometimes takes me a few games to remember not to hold the whistle and play on when a basketball foul occurs. Unfortunately, what happened to you in this situation does often occur in games. As when errors like this do occur, they are learning moments for future games. I hope the remainder of your college season is successful.