Question Number: 17000

Law 7 - Match Duration 9/30/2007

RE: Select Under 13

Carrie Lenzen of Kernersville, NC usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 16646

We had the same situation [16646] happen with our girls game this weekend! The score was tied, the ball was kicked, the end of game whistle blew, and the ball went in the goal! Everyone thought it was a goal and a win for our girls, except for the center ref! He called the game a tie and didn't count the goal. Even the AR's thought it was a goal. Our league follows FIFA rules, so is that the correct call for FIFA?

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The correct call is to the assignor of the referee. He needs to have the referee have a conversation with an assessor about his use of time in the game, and his awareness of what is happening on the field. While a referee must end the game when all time is expired, that time includes the time in the half plus any time to be added which was lost due to substitutions, injury, time wasting or other cause. It is rare that a referee is so exact with the time added versus time lost that he cannot wait the 5 seconds to see what happens to a ball in flight. And that should be the conversation with the assessor. If the referee felt he had added every second possible, he must blow the whistle then no matter what, but as you can see, there is a lot of leeway. Please call the local referee assignor. They are the best avenue to a referee's continuing education.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

One might wonder if it is wise for the referee to be looking at his watch instead of watching exciting play develop in front of the goal. The referee should have a general idea of when time will expire - say in the next 10 seconds or 30 seconds or so - but if he doesn't get a chance to confirm it on his watch because he's looking at more important things, there is no problem if he misses by a few seconds. Looking at the ball to see if it is fully across the goal line is more important than watching those last few seconds tick off the watch.

Remember that football/soccer was never meant to be an exactly timed sport as many others are. When the Laws were written, players oftentimes had very little to go on for determining when the half was over. You looked at the clock on the church steeple, or perhaps someone borrowed a timepiece from the railway station master. Only in modern times, with advanced timepieces, do people worry about timing within fractions of a second.

While correct in Law - time is up when time is up - this referee has problems with game observation skills. I concur with Ref Maloney's call to the assignor so the ref may receive additional guidance and training. I'm sure your team and supporters, while disappointed, allowed the ref to safely exit the field without abuse. The next time he tries this, he may not be so lucky. That's not to condone abuse or assault of a referee - they never "deserve" it. But the wise ref will not needlessly put himself into situations where it could occur.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

But....in answer to your question; yes, per FIFA rules the game is over when the center referee says it is. The goal does not count. Whether this was a wise move on the referee's part is certainly debatable, but it is his call when the game is over.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The referee in question 16646, is not the "decider* as Mr Bush likes to be thought of, because the CLOCK in USA highschool is on a countdown and when the horn goes the play is dead.

Referees usually have the discretion to add on any reasonable time lost during the match. This is stated in law 7 and is pretty clear but as I and others have pointed out it is as UNFAIR to extend time past as it is to shorten prior! A team that has successfuly defended the full 90 minutes to lose or be tied at the last shot of a match simply because we are permitting an attacking opportunity to finish out is unjust if the whistle SHOULD have been blown earlierbe it 1 second or 20 seconds.

As our fearless leader Ref Fleischer likes to point out *situational awarness* is the art of being aware of all things in proper perspective. We are aware that time is relative and rarely to the micro second hence we stay focused and look for less invasive or controversial opportunities to end a match. But sometimes time is up and the ball is rolling, the whistle goes just as it is being kicked everyone relaxes and the ball hits the net . No goal time was up, it could irritate the shooter, make the coach mad, rile the fans and maybe an assessor will go hmmm! However, in the opinion of the referee is still the decider!
Cheers