Question Number: 15652

Law 3 - Number of Players 5/30/2007

RE: Co-ed semi-competitive (volunteer ref) ages 9-11 Under 11

Rick Fokkens of Port Colborne, Ontario Canada asks...

Is it the referee's obligation to ensure each team has the correct amount of players on the field before resuming play after every substitution? The coaches in our league too often seem to loose track of how many players are on and how many are off. In order to get the game moving along I have relied on the coaches to ensure they have the correct number of players on the field after substitutions; I don't think it's that difficult to do. I always count heads at the beginning of each half.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You should ALWAYS be aware of how many players are on the field but you are only required to ensure there are not too many or too few. This is different than the "correct" number. For example, in full sided soccer, each team probably wants 11 players but you are only required to not allow more than 11 or less than 7

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

At the youngest ages, referees should help out teams that don't send enough players out onto the field, at any point in the game. I remember one U10 game that I wasn't paying attention, and allowed the game to restart with Red down by 1 player. The coach was a fellow ref who also coaches older Premier teams. At the next stoppage we rectified the situation, and I said something like, "Sorry Steve, I thought you could count." (with a grin)

Which brings up another point. If one of the players misses his assignment and isn't out on the field when play resumes, he CANNOT just run out there whenever he wakes up. He must wait until the next stoppage in play.

Following proper substitution mechanics - subs ready at the half line, players come out and then subs go in - will greatly reduce the chances of this happening. For reasons that I cannot fathom, the referee community in my area has decided to forgo proper mechanics and we use the "swarm-on, swarm-off" technique. When you don't count the swarms correctly you can end up with too many or too few players on the field.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Rick the question should not, and must not, be how many players are on the field? The question is, and must ALWAYS be, were the procedures for substituting a player, listed in Law 3, followed to the letter?

If those procedures were followed to the letter there CAN BE no deviation from the correct number of players. The trouble ALWAYS happens if a referee, in the interest of "In order to get the game moving along" shortcuts the procedure. The referees who do this will, sooner or later, find themselves in a position where, no matter what they do, the Laws of the Game will not support them.

Regards,