Question Number: 15543

Law 7 - Match Duration 5/21/2007

RE: Rec Under 9

Beth Morgret of South Park, PA USA asks...

At a game this weekend, score is tied toward the end of the game. Player gets the ball, runs down the field and kicks the ball. As the ball is in the air, the ref blows the whistle to end the game. The ball goes in the net, ref disallows the goal, game ends in a tie. I've been told by one official that this is correct. I've also been told that you are not to end a half or a game when a player has a clear offensive advantage, they must be in the neutral area. And I was also told by an official that they would never end a game while a ball was in the air like that. I'm just very curious about this rule.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Time is up at the referees discretion. Nothing says that the game cannot end when a team has an advantage even though this is a rule of thumb that a lot of referees use. I have seen games end on corner kicks or even free kicks near the goal. The only time the referee must extend the game is for a penalty kick.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The "rule" is that the game is over when the referee says it is. Period. Referees are also empowered to add time at the end of each half so most referees would not stop the match with the ball in the air. The only time the game must be extended beyond added time is for the taking of a penalty kick.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

I find it amazing how many refs there seem to be who are looking at the last seconds click off on their watch instead of viewing some exciting play in front of the goal. I have a pretty good idea of how much time is left - I may even be counting down seconds in my head - but there's just no way I'm going to look at my watch. When play gets less exciting I'll steal a glance, and then confirm that yup, time indeed did expire a second or two ago, so I'll blow the whistle. Does that mean I allowed them to play 5 seconds too long? Maybe - but I'm sure there was at least that much wasted time somewhere in the game that I hadn't accounted for.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

I once heard a referee say he doesn't get paid any overtime so why should he add time just because the ball is in the air. He did have a rather astute observation there, rather smart of him to realise that little fact -- of course he looks really stupid if the ball winds up in goals.

It is over when time and that time added in accordance with Law 7 has expired. It is correct; but it is not correct in the Spirit of the Game. If this is American high school or NCAA the goal is not valid, everywhere else the referee should be a bit more tolerant of time with the ball in flight towards goals.

Regards,

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