Question Number: 17041

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/2/2007

RE: Rec Under 11

David Dellinger of Durham, NC USA asks...

We had this to happen during a game. The referee on the side of the field called a penalty on the keeper. The defender passed the ball back to the keeper who picked the ball up resulting in an indirect free kick. The referee on that side of the field called for a direct free kick and signaled to the team that they were taking a direct free kick. The player kicked the ball directly into the goal. The referee on the far side of the field came in and waved off the goal and said that he motioned with his hand signal that it was an indirect free kick, but did not tell anyone. Since the kick went directly into goal he called for a goal kick and did not allow the offense the chance to re-kick due to referee error. What is the correct rule on referee error.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The first referee error we need to take care of is getting the extra referee off the field. The 2-man system is not allowed under the Laws of the Game and USSF.

Once that's taken care of, we need to re-educate both these refs. One for not knowing the proper restart, which should have been an indirect free kick. The other for not knowing the remedy - the kick should have been retaken.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Well David you paid for two personalities, two opinions, two different angles of view and got what you paid for. Thet's exactly why US Soccer refuses to recognize the two man system of control. It is a committee where debate rules, not a system of referees.

Ref Voshol is correct, retake the indirect free kick.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

If this was a two man referee system, you need to find another league for your child to play in. This system is an abomination and specifically is disallowed by FIFA and US Soccer and for obvious good reasons. What you have is 2 people in charge. Now we all know that if a keeper handles a ball inside his own penalty area that was deliberately kicked to him by a teammate, the restart is an indirect free kick. But in your case you end up with 2 referees that don't know what's going on. If this was inside the penalty area, the restart is an indirect free kick. If outside the penalty area, it's a direct free kick. If the referee thought it should have been a direct free kick INSIDE the penalty area, he's got some real problems. If I understand what you are describing, this occurred inside the penalty area and should have been an IFK mistakenly, a PK. If that is true then the kick should have been retaken. However, if the keeper handled the ball OUTSIDE the penalty area, then a direct free kick was the proper restart and the goal should have counted. I would greatly appreciate your getting back to us with the location of the infraction.