Question Number: 31200

Law 7 - The Duration of the Match 1/25/2017

RE: amateur Adult

bc of inverness, highland scotland asks...

hi, was through on goal last night when referee blew for full-time. I scored before he finished his 'peep'!
no goal was given but I think it should as the whistle hadn't concluded.
any help?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Time is up when the referee decides time is up. The whistle is a signal that the ref made the decision.

Since the decision must be made at least momentarily before the whistle sounds, time is up even before the start of the whistle. When the whistle ends is totally immaterial.

That said, did the ref not see any wasted time that should have been added on? Not minutes, but a few seconds? Or maybe the time had already been added in his mind, and you hadn't yet been able to capitalize in the time he added, so game over.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
No help I am afraid. No goal could be awarded once the whistle sounded as the ball has not entered the goal at that time. The game finishes when the referee decides so and the whistle is only the signal of that decision. So the game was over at the instance just before the first peep of the whistle. There is rarely any difference between the decision and the signal. It is a minor point yet significant in determining the moment the game ended.
Now it was somewhat harsh to end the game in such a situation and no doubt it caused a lot of rancour. It is a matter though for the referee and he is the sole timekeeper.
As I say to teams about added time and ending the game teams have 90 minutes to score or defend so there should not be an inordinate focus on the last minute/ seconds or for that matter relying on the discretion of the referee as to the amount of time he adds on for time lost. Play until the whistle sounds.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi ,
a referee should be aware of the state of play and anticipate a bit looking for a better way to end a match then with the ball about to enter the goal. Still sometimes things just turnout ugly! A bad deflection, an inattentive look at the watch instead of play or a beeping watch creates the hasty whistle. Once the whistle sounds if the ball has not ALREADY crossed completely into the goal under the crossbar between the posts over the goal line there can be no awarding the goal. Time is relative and rarely to the micro second but it is as unfair for a team to defend longer than necessary same as if the team shooting is forced to play short! All about balance and the natural order of the universe lol
Cheers