Question Number: 20485

Law 7 - Match Duration 11/10/2008

RE: Rec Under 14

Jen Dombrowski of Maple Shade, NJ USA asks...

During the last seconds of the game, we have a corner kick, during the play, the ref. blows the whistle, we score, durng the whistle, to tie the game (3-3), the ref. does not count the goal. Can he do that - blow the whistle to end the game when the play has not ended. Also, during this game, the ref. was very particular with subbing, each team could only sub one player at a time, meaning we had to wait to sub our players after the other team subbed theirs, instead of doing it simultaneously, this was very time consuming (time being wasted) and ultimately cost us a goal in the end.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

When time is up, it is up. It is unfair to the attackers to blow the whistle early, but just as unfair to the defenders to blow it late. Wise referees will make sure that all lost time is absolutely accounted for before blowing the whistle. And often it is not possible to look at the watch and see play at the same time, so it appears that the referee waits for the ball to get into a neutral position. But that is a function of the timekeeping, not a rule.

It also sounds like your referee was trying to enforce proper substitution mechanics. Many areas use the 'fire drill' method of substitution, where the ball goes out of play, the coach yells for the sub, and then everyone runs every which way. The proper mechanic is for the player exiting the game to leave the field before the substitute is allowed on the field.

In the professional / international level game, where substitutions are limited (usually 3 per side), they are considered unusual events and time is added in each half to compensate. Most youth rules have unlimited numbers of substitutions with right of reentry, so it is not an unusual event but rather part of the game. The referee would only add time for exceptionally long substitution stoppages. It is not the referee's fault that the teams in your game don't know to follow the proper sequence of mechanics; in fact it sounds as if he was trying to have you follow the correct procedure. It could be that correcting errors takes longer than doing it right in the first place.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Time is up when the referee says it is so since he blew the whistle before the goal scored, it does not count. I know you think that unfair but if you were the defenders, how would you feel if the referee added time just so the opponents could score a goal? As far as allowing one team to sub at a time, I applaud this referee for doing it. Also, he should have made certain NONE of the subs entered the field of play until the player they were coming in for had completely left the field of play. If the referee felt like substitutions were taking up extra time, he would add time at the end of regular time.

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Time expires when it expires, the referee determines this. Even if the ball was flying into the goal, if the time expired then the ref would be right in ending the game.

The referee followed the proper substitution procedure as outlined in the laws of the game. If that was causing time to be lost, he should add that time on at the end.