Question Number: 2407

RE: Select Under 18

Stu Blackburn of San Ramon, Ca USA asks...

I have two questions. I was an AR in a game yesterday where a corner kick was touched by one player and then dribbled in by another who was standing outside the goal line when the ball was touched. The center ref allowed this, but we had a lively discussion at halftime as to whether a player standing intentionally off the field could come in and play the ball. There were 4 opinions (another ref was standing there), but no one knew for sure. Is this legal?..In an earlier game on a breakaway just at the edge of the penalty arc the last defender pushed down the attacker who was going straight to goal. The foul was not hard, but it clearly denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity. Now the extenuating circumstances--there were 3 minutes left in an 11-1 game. The team with 11 goals was attacking. (It had been 11-0 before a lucky goal. The winning team was directed by their coach to "get that goal back.")..I've talked to several refs about this including the head assessor and the head trainer in the area. Opinions are sharply divided. Red card--follow the law? Yellow card with a stern warning? No card--the player has already been punished enough? I'd love to get your take. This was a U13 select game in a major tournament. (I called a foul, but gave no card.)

Answer provided by Referee Dawson

Hi Stu, ..Some choice tibits for us here. Law 18 common sense. ..It is permissable for the referee to deny the restart until all players are on the pitch. ..If the players were off the field of play at the taking of the corner. Not strictly legal but... ..Their actions are suspect if ITOOTR they are deliberately trying to trick or decieve the opposition by bringing in a player in behind a defender. IDFK for USB and a yellow card possible..If the off the field player is standing at or near the corner then steps on to receive in front of the nearest defender, it is probably trival and not worth the bother...I will probably get myself in trouble, however, In my opinion the real crime is a coach leading by ten goals to tell his players to grab one more to further drive the point home they are a stronger team. ..In as much as we like to apply a mercy rule and give the losing team a break we must be carefull. Neutral in the outcome even as we try to enforce fairplay...I would look very hard for an opportunity to apply ITOOTR to bend the rules but it is not a good idea to break them...If I could see my way clear chances are to award the foul would be sufficent. I am not saying to do this only see if you could. ..If the actions of the defender were such that you were forced by your own admission to recognize the serious nature of the offence. I admit I would have to see the incident to give a concrete opinion..In tournament setting (were advancement and points play a role) you might very well have to take the youngster aside and explain that under the rules you must apply the correct punishment. ..These types of cards foster an unpleasent taste at such a young age but you can try and be positve in the caution or send-off and allow the player and the losing team to retain a modicum of dignity.. .If this game was recreational or had little impact chances are I would go with the foul and allow the cards to slide if I could. The real pupose of soccer is to allow the youth to have fun...I always ask myself if I give out cards "What purpose is being served" Thanks for the interesting question. I gave only an opinion you will find that those who grade you on your actions may not find mine satisfactory. Keep your chin up and have fun. Cheers

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Answer provided by Referee Gary Sebalja

Isn't it scary (and I have said this before) how 4 people can have differing opinions on the 1 subject and two were referees? the way I see it is that you can see clearly that there are 2 players standing by the corner, they aren't sneaking behind your back, and you could possibly expect something from either. So I don't think that it is against the laws of the game...In your second question I would like to start with the time. Quite a lot of fouls actually happen in the last few minutes at higher levels so I would disregard the time that it happened. What you do next will affect the player and how he will devolop into playing of the game, I would make sure that you told him what he has done and why he is being red carded. The reason I would do this is that latter on when it happens again the first words out of his mouth would be that the last referee didn't do that!..Hope I have helped

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