Question Number: 16479

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/29/2007

RE: Competitive High School

Dave Trepex of Portland, OR USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 16373

Would you or could you caution the player for USB? [16373] Seems quite unsporting to try to score on his own team.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Absolutely NOT!!! Don't even consider this option. Reason? The player's team mates will tend to this and do so in ways the referee can't. They can remove him from the squad!! They can make life miserable for him. What they do is going to have affect far beyond a simple unsporting behavior caution.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

There have been some high-profile games in recent years when teams either didn't try to win or they tried to lose. There was a game with 150 own goals (in protest of some referee's call), a game in which each team was attempting to score in their own net and the opponents were trying not to let them, and a game where the players lazily passed the ball back and forth with no one attacking.

In such cases, despite the apalling behavior, the referee is limited to making a notation in his report, "It was observed that X repeatedly tried to kick an own goal." Or, "The teams seemed content after the 10th minute to let the score remain 1-0 and neither tried to score." The league will then sort it out, with fines, suspensions, team disbarments, or other penalties.