Question Number: 32387

Law 7 - The Duration of the Match 4/19/2018

RE: 4cl Adult

Jason lewis of Llandrindod Wells, Wales Wales asks...

Can a referee blow up from a throw in where the ball is still in the air and which has come off a attacking player and the ball is still the air and whistle full time

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Jason,

Time is up when it's up. While there may be an informal convention where referees, in games with stoppages, don't blow for time while an attack is happening, usually when the ball is around a throw-in there's no issue with stopping play.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Jason,
as the LOTG currently read time is up when the referee has decided it is! Given there is no count down clock like high school we must have faith the official is correct with his procedures. WE can usually pick our spots within reason as time is relative and rarely to the 10,000 of a micro second but for example if you are going to blow immediately after the throw- in I'd blow before it was taken given you are not going to allow play to continue in any important way. Same a corner kick why let them set up then blow while it is in the air, just creates bad feelings? If I allow throw in or a corner of free kick or a PK in the last few ticks of the clock. I usually allow play to develop slightly or if there is none, no time at all and I was convinced it was all used up at all I simply end the match. In the case of a PK that would mean informing there would be no rebound!

My colleague touches on a truism of soccer, referees generally do not want to stop play if there is a scoring attack in progress . Although it is unfair to make a team defend longer than the required time as it is to not play all of the time due to the add on process of lost or wasted time in a match we generally nod towards letting play just expire in a less than contentious situation than a ball headed into the goal only to hear the whistle just before it crosses the goal line. That rarely ends well. There is also the added knowledge that if the team wanting the opportunity was not the one dragging their feet earlier on restarts a referee is more inclined to honour that truism then if they WERE the team dragging their feet earlier.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jason
When time has fully expired the referee must end play. As the referee is the sole timekeeper and it is not an exact calculation a referee may allow say a shot to be completed before ending the game.
In my game last weekend which was a semi final I estimated that I would play 4 minutes of added time. Just before the end of the 4th minutes the ball was cleared away for a corner. I could have ended it there yet I chose to go with the kick which was defended and the ball was again cleared for a corner kick. I blew for full time which obviously was a relief to the defending team and annoyance to the attacking team. A few player protested and I told them that I had been playing four minutes yet I allowed the kick. Their argument was that it was unfair to end the game that way by not allowing the corner kick to which I countered that was it fair to keep playing just because a team kept getting corners.? I know that in Europe at the highest level now the advice is to end on the time displayed by the 4th official so if it is 4 minutes the game ends on 4 minutes with no restart allowed.
Teams should focus on the 90 minutes not on time that is at the discretion of the referee.