Question Number: 19106

Law 3 - Number of Players 5/16/2008

RE: Adult

Chris of Vancouver, Canada asks...

Red team is threatening and one of its players receives a pass. The referee sees that it is not offside, spotting a defender that puts him onside. Just as the attacker receives the ball and is about to kick, the coach of the defending team screams at the top of his voice "offside" possibly distracting all and expecially the attacker.

Obviously the whistle cannot (and in this situation) should not be blown, lest you stop the attacker from scoring. But how should the referee proceed.

a) ignore the coach.

b) warn the coach that the screaming can possibly distract a player and give his team an unfair advantage.

c) (My pick) caution the coach for "dissent", since challenging a non-call is just as much dissent as challenging a call. (I prefer this approach to the "b" approach, since this gives the referee a reason based on his authority (no dissent allowed), while the "b" option is the ultimate aim (to stop the distraction) but there is no basis in the LOTG to tell a coach what to say or not to say.)

Also, if b or c is chosen, when should the ref be spoken to? At the next natural stoppage? Or should the whistle be blown if advantage is not realized by the attacking team?

I also feel that it makes little difference if the ref saw it wrong. A coach can stilled be cautioned for such dissent even if the ref was mistaken and fails to realize it. (as embarrassing and undesirable as that is.)

thx.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Coaches (team officials) are virtual non-entities in the Laws of the Game. They have but one responsibility - to behave responsibily. Shouting or screaming what would be dissent from a player is not responsible behavior. The referee would be within his authority to dismiss the coach from the field and its surrounds (equivalent to a send-off for a player, except cards are not shown). Or the coach may be formally warned that his behavior will be reported and if he continues to misbehave he will be dismissed (equivalent to a caution). And you are correct, even if the referee was mistaken, the coach must still behave responsibly.

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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Since virtually every coach at every youth soccer match will yell "offside" every time a non-call goes against him, I doubt the attacker will be paying any attention to him. I would probably ignore it as when the referee raises his voice, players do respond and I wouldn't want to distract the attacker. That said, at the first opportunity I would tell the coach to stop questioning my calls and to stick to coaching his players. You cannot caution a coach. If he insists on behaving poorly, you may dismiss him from the game.

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