Question Number: 30909

10/17/2016

RE: Competitive High School

Zakhele Mtolo of Creighton, KZN South Africa asks...

Team A v Team B, Team A player goes to ground(no foul given) and the match continues to a point where Team A regain possession and voluntarily decides to stop play by kicking the ball off the field. Referee then attanded the player who subsequently left the field to get medical attention. Team B then took a throw-in BUT refused to play the ball to Team A as means of FairPlay. Now my question is what was the referee suppose to have done and if any powers rest on the referee to instill FairPlay/Sporting Behavior and if the conduct by Team B warrant any charge/caution for Unsportsmanlike Behavior.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Zakhele Mtolo.
it is a SAD fact but fair play is a CHOICE not an enforceable option. The referee as a neutral official applies the LOTG. A referee is empowered to stop play, IF, in his opinion, a player is seriously injured. Apparently he did not view the player of team A as seriously injured, so he permitted play to continue and team A took it upon themselves to stop play. Team B is under no law to return the ball back to team A .
They could be irate they did not receive a foul or thought your player was faking injury. IF THEY had ball possession and THEY kicked it out so YOUR player could receive treatment that is MORE in tune with traditional gentlemen fair play standards. You would return them the ball as a courtesy because THEY gave the ball up so YOUR guy gets treatment. Your doing it for your player is not considered in the same theme unless the opposition was to reflect a severity of an injury the guys leg is broken, he was having a heart attack something that reeked of the need to respond appropriately.
Characteristics such as respect and integrity are inner qualities one has or does not. Fair Play as a concept is one that must be equal to the situation not perceived as a duty or favour but as something you choose to do simply because it is the right thing to do. Thinking you are right or having the perception is not the same. A referee allows you to play as you wish, you choose fair play as an honour code, after all it is your game not the referees.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Zakhele
The referee has no powers to intervene here other than stopping play sooner if he felt that the injury was serious.
As it turned out Team A gave possession over to Team B who are under no compunction to give the ball back although Fair Play would dictate that they do so. These situations cause ill feeling and the referee has to be on his guard about players on Team A taking some sort of action to redress what they believe to be unfair. Players can become irate and verbally abusive towards each other which can lead to all sorts including violent conduct.
From that moment on as a referee I am stopping for every *injury* with a dropped ball restart that can be contested by both sides. That is then the referees decision not the teams. If one player informs the opponents verbally that he is giving the ball back then I will ensure that it is done. Failure to do so will result in a caution for verbally distracting or deceiving an opponent at a restart and an IDFK restart.
I suppose this is the downside of players acting independently of the referee by kicking the ball out of play themselves rather than allowing the referee to deal with it. Most injuries do not require immediate treatment and play can and should continue to the next natural stoppage or until the referee stops play. On the dropped ball the referee can find out what both teams want to do. He cannot engineer the restart yet he can get knowledge of what is planned by the teams which is then available to both sides to decide what they want to do.