Question Number: 12988

Law 7 - Match Duration 6/7/2006

RE: select Under 16

Michael Kleaveland of Muskegon, MI USA asks...

If, during the first half of a game, there is a stoppage in play involving the issuing of 2 red cards, should the referee add extra minutes to the first half to take into account the stoppage or should he add the extra time to the second half?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mike,
you add the time in the half the incident occurs that requires it.
So No 1st half time is NOT made up in the second half. I would fail any referee being assessed who did so. It MUST in law be two EQUAL halves!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You add time in the half that the stoppages took place.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The Laws say that each half must be of equal duration. That means that if time is wasted to issue cards in the 1st half, that wasted time better be added to the 1st half otherwise the 2nd half would include more playing time. If you added that time to the 2nd half, not only would time be subtracted from the first half, but unfair time would be added to the 2nd half making them unbalanced. In other words, add the time in the half it happend. As Always,

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Right, when the referee adds additional time to either period of play he is making sure players get their full measure of time due to wasting time, assessing injuries to players, removing the injured or any other cause. In a match played under the Laws of the Game each period of play amounts to 45 minutes. So if a referee adds additional time so a period of play has 45 minutes playing time, guess what? The period of play is 45 minutes long, it just took longer to get to 45 minutes. Imagine a player requiring medical attention and evacuation by ambulance, it takes 25 minutes. How long will that period of play be?

On the television it will be 70 minutes or 45 +25 minutes, depending on what country it originates from. On the referee's watch the time will be 45 minutes. Funny how that works out. Guess how long the second period of play will be? Yup, 45 minutes. And both periods of play remain equal, as the Law states they will be.

Regards,