Question Number: 15013

Law 5 - The Referee 3/20/2007

RE: Professional

Petros Ndlovu of Johannesburg, Gauteng South Africa asks...

I never knew soccer could be such a complecated game till my friend introduced me to this website. Good job you are doing.

A team in a social soccer league was losing 12 - 0 at halftime. On the restart of the 2nd half goal number 13 was scored. The losing team refused to go on with the match and walked out because of the huge score. What is the law pertaining to their walk out? (2) What score line is given to the leading team? What should the ref have done on the spot - issue them all with cards or wait for them to come bac to the field of play for sometime before calling the match off? Am confused.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Sounds like the social league could use a bit more parity. If one team walks away, the referee abandons the match and writes a report outlining the circumstances. The league deals with any punitive actions or discipline. The score might be left as is or perhaps a bylaw has forfiet proceedures already covered. It remains very simple albeit an unfortunate occurance. I see no value in showing cards when a simple request "Please take the field so we can continue!"and answer,"No we are going home! ", pretty much sets the tone of this situation

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

This depends on the league. The referee must document everything and report. Usually the winning team gets the max points possible for a game on a forfeit.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The referee may abandon a match if there is an insufficient number of players to meet the requirements of the Law or the competition, if a team does not appear or leaves before completion of the game, or if the field or any of its equipment do not meet the requirements of the Laws or are otherwise unsafe. An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules provide otherwise.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The referee does NOT issue cards in this case. The losing team decided they wanted to quit. Fine. The referee can do nothing about this. After he's certain they will not come back, he abandons the match and writes a full report to the proper authorities who will then decide what to do.

Answer provided by Referee Nathan Lacy

The rules of the league in questions pretty much dictate this one but in most cases when this sort of thing happens the match is considered "abandoned" and the ref files a report with the relevant details of what happened. It then becomes a league matter as to what further sanctions, if any, are warranted. All the best,