Question Number: 16003

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 7/12/2007

RE: Non Compeditive Adult

Andrew Roberts of Dunedin, New Zealand asks...

Calling for the ball; I believe that the only call that you cant make on the soccer field is leave it is this true.Is My ball and mine legal calls?
Regards Andrew.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Andrew,
the words LEAVE IT are fine same as the others, it is the intent percieved by the referee that is judged. You can not deliberately try to intimidate or decieve an opponent through verbal trickery or by screaming into his ear.

I say to my team mate Richard's ball or leave it or I got it or mIne or if my keeper yells keeper while coming in over top of his defender's , we are communicating tactical info all perfectly legal.

At the moment in football there is no verbal impeding which is kind of what could occur yelling such outbursts in a crowd of opposing players all going for the ball.

To classify the outbursts as USB is to equate the phrases with a sound such as ARRRRRRRRGH screaming into an opponents ear to put them off or intimidate.

At issue is many referees will award an iNDFK for a percieved slight and not caution. IN law if we DO consider it USB and stop play we should caution.

Personally I like to encourage a NAME to the ball and will request players refrain from general outbursts/screams in crowds. I often refereed teams of ethnic diversification not everyone spoke English when challanging or communicating . So how does one judge the way sound is used to exploit an opponent or is it simply be part of free speech? It is an opinion , my opinion it rarely is unfair but if it is unfair you will likely know it!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

My colleague has hit the crux of the matter. No matter what was said, was it unsporting behavior or not? Was it legitimate communication to your teammates, or was it an attempt to deceive your opponents?

In England especially there is a tradition of, "Put a name on it." In other words, don't just say "Leave it" or "My ball", say "Andrew's ball". Maybe parts of the soccer culture in NZ also follow that spirit. That's fine as it goes, but you still can be acting in an unsporting manner. You can't bellow your name into your opponent's ear. Or suppose that you figure out that there is an Andrew on the opposing team as well. A ball is headed toward one of their players, you move behind him and call, "Andrew's ball" and he lets it go past to you, thinking it was his own Andrew talking to him. That's just as unsporting as telling him to "Leave it" - your intent was to deceive the opponent, not communicate with a teammate.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The referee must decide if the yelling is unsporting or not. Different refs may have different opinions on this. Basically, teammates can call for the ball provided they are doing it within the spirit of the game. Trying to trick opponents is unsporting and guilty players should be disciplined accordingly by the referee.