Question Number: 34223

Law 7 - The Duration of the Match 5/18/2021

RE: Adult

Michael Ponting of Corby, England asks...

On Sunday the Liverpool goal keeper scored a fantastic headed goal from a corner, my question is the 4 minutes of added time was well up when the ball went out for the corner, the full back strolled over to take the chick but then they told the goalkeeper he could come up for the kick why did the ref wait for him to arrive when time was now even further over the 4 minutes and not blow for full time.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

hi Michael
The great timing debate.

We all know that there is a great deal of discretion given to referees in deciding how much added time should be played for substitutions, injuries other reasons etc. The 4th official board only shows that there will be a MINIMUM of x minutes to be played so it could easily have been 4.30.
We also know that many referees allow a corner kick / free kick to be taken when it is the last play of the game. The ball was headed out at 3,53 in added time and the Liverpool player rushed out to take the kick. The Liverpool goalkeeper was in the penalty area @4.10 and the kick was taken @ around 4.15. So we do not know how much times was added on just that it was a minimum of 4 minutes.

For what its worth the game ends when the referee blows the final whistle. Until then the game continues and for me had the corner kick been defended properly then there would have been zero issue with the timing. I suspect the whistle would have be blown if the ball was cleared which happens quite a bit at this level.

As an aside rugby uses a system where the referee stops an independent clock for various situations including injury. Teams never know how long they have played in a half as the game ends when it reaches the allotted time. Also play continues until the next natural stoppage. Soccer I think could easily use that system which might prevent some of the time wasting that goes on and that the timing is visible to all with no debate about how much was added on.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Michale,
if time had expired it is as unfair to defend longer as it would be if you cut an attack too short.
Time is subjective & rarely to the microsecond but unlike USA high school there is not a horn or buzzer that sounds to end the match!

In the premier league, it is at the discretion of the referee to add on ALL time wasted during the match for a variety of reasons.

The stated 4 minutes via the flip boards is the MINIMUM amount of time to be added, it could be 4:45 or 4:10 yet even in added time, time can be added if there are stoppages that in the opinion of the referee are using up the available time unfairly. So UNTIL he blows that final whistle the match is on!

The referee will consider time to be well used in that if say the ball had gone out for a throw-in at the midline with just a few ticks left in the match the opportunity to continue the ball into either goal is so diminished that he might end the match even before the ball re-enters play.

Look how quickly the ball entered the goal from the corner kick off the directed header?

Now imagine the keeper stops it and it goes out for another corner? If indeed the match is over that is where it would end. To allow another corner and we are into 5 minutes that is where some harsh critiques may be unleashed as to what is fair. It is ONLY for a PK that a match can be EXTENDED past its duration. We do pay attention to the teams hustle to get play restarted taking our cue at times on their behaviour

Personally, I as would most of my colleagues look for a way to end a match in a noncontroversial manner. Still allowing an attack to be completed is widely regarded as normal play PROVIDED the ball is not glued onto the foot of the attackers where they get to every rebound for an extended period of time.

If for example if the header had missed or been cleared off the line and in a free, for all scramble the ball rebounded into goal the whistle might still be silent or it may have gone. The referee might be looking for a clear set of circumstances of the defender's control or attacker's opportunity but you certainly do not want to hit the whistle just as a ball enters the goal.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Michael,
According to the Laws, the referee is the sole judge of how much additional time to allow for time lost. Even after the board has gone up indicating the minimum of time that is being allowed, that is only a minimum and the referee still has the right (and the duty) to allow for all the additional time that they judge necessary. In theory, any amount up to 4 minutes and 59 seconds should still be indicated as 4 minutes.

In fact, if necessary because of things that have happened after the board went up, the referee could even allow time beyond the number of minutes indicated.

As ref McHugh has pointed out, play had only gone on for a relatively short time beyond the minimum amount indicated, so was well within allowable parameters.