Question Number: 16296

Law 5 - The Referee 8/13/2007

RE: Co-ed, semi-competitive, volunteer referee Under 11

Rick of Port Colborne, Ontario Canada asks...

I recently watched a game in which the referee blew her whistle for offside even though there were two defenders between the goal line and the attacker who was supposedly offside. The referee quickly realized her mistake, let play continue (without saying "play on"), which resulted in a goal by the attacking team. She disallowed the goal and amazingly called for a drop ball where the supposed offside took place, saying something to the effect that the goalie touched the ball before it when in the net and because she blew the whistle she had to disallow the goal.

My question is, as a referee, should I blow an inadvertent whistle, will yelling "Play on" suffice to let play continue? Or do I have to honor my own whistle at all times? If I let play continue and a goal resulted, I would probably upset the defending coach's team since he would argue his team quit on the play since I blew the whistle.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Oh, my. Was the referee working with no ARs? I digress - under the circumstances you describe: referee blows whistle for offside, only to realize there wasn't one - the only thing, and I repeat, the ONLY thing, to be done is to do a dropped ball restart for an inadvertent or incorrect whistle at the point where the ball was when the whistle sounded (unless it was in the goal area - making the dropped ball take place on the top of the goal area line) - good on the referee! To do anything else results in the kind of mess you describe happening if she hadn't done the CORRECT dropped ball restart - although letting it play through until the ball was in the goal was highly inadvisable. You can't play advantage, because it wasn't a Law 12 violation. You can't let play continue, because you've stopped it with the whistle - ball's dead now, remember? You can't disallow a goal that never happened, which it can't because the ball is dead. And, yes, the defenders' coach would have every right to be upset and protest the game if the goal was allowed.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Rick,
if you blow an inadvertent(also known as an oooops) whistle to stop play, you must then restart play-based on WHY it was done!! You can not allow play to continue or signal advantage.
The correct restart in this case is a drop ball where the ball was at the time of the whistle with a sheepish look and a contrite, "My bad sorry!" thrown in. I think she got the correct call but possibly for the wrong reasons? That drop ball had to be the restart as no law was infringed and no misconduct in sight. It was a Mistake! We do make them just hopefully not often or the same ones over and over!A Referee must admit the error and move on, not compound a non existent stoppage into unfair goals or unpleasant situations.! To allow play, then discount the goal based on the reasoning of a keeper touch is too weird, just generates bad karma.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

As I read this Rick all that I could think of was my screw-ups in the distant past of my career. A player was taken down from behind, really, really hard, just after he took a shot. All I could see was the foul and I blew for it. Super!! awshit -- it went into the goal [Ref Dawson translates awshit into the more PC oooops]. I played advantage after the whistle. Found out later I can't do that. I have given offside in the same manner she did, linesman doesn't signal 'cause he sees the other opponents but I blow anyway, awshit -- where did he come from -- gimme the ball 'cause I screwed up again. We're gonna drop this puppy.

Yeah, I did learn some hard lessons, what referee doesn't? When the learning curve is steep we all tend to falter a bit. Those that keep making mistakes are the one's to stay well clear of and the reason the rest of us get yelled at so much.

So. She blew the whistle. Then dug deep to unscrew the mess in her head, then found the ball in the net. The mess is now a huge awshit. And, she knows that one awshit cancels out ten thousand attagirl's... Let's see if we can make the awshit go away. What she pulls out of the proverbial orifice works to some degree and she survives the encounter and hard lesson. She learns ONLY if someone calls her to task for it and explains what she should have done.

Inadvertent whistle, CRAP. Gimme the ball we have to drop it cause I screwed up. Remember reading Law 9 - The Ball in and Out of Play? In there it says:

The is out of play when:

it has wholly crossed the goal line of touch line whether on the ground or in the air

play has been stopped by the referee.

When the whistle blows the referee has stopped play.

The ONLY exception to this is a 397 pound referee's whistle, that never leaves his mouth, going tweet every time a foot hits the ground. That whistle, we all understand, isn't stopping things it's just annoying...

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Jon Sommer

This is Australian Rules Football, if a whistle goes, play stops, you can not then play on after it goes. Sometimes we make mistakes by blowing too early, especially in our early days when we tend to whistle everything. The only correct restart here would be a drop ball.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

This is not correct by the referee. Should have restarted with a drop ball at the location of the ball when play stopped.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The ONLY possible restart for an inadvertant whistle is a dropped ball. Allowing the goal would have been incredibly unfair as I'm pretty sure the defenders stopped when they heard the whistle. The referee sort of did the right thing by disallowing the goal but has nothing to do with the reason you say she gave. Never, ever yell play on for an inadvertant whistle

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Drop it. It's not in play until it hits the ground.