Question Number: 23805

Law 7 - Match Duration 8/21/2010

RE: Select Under 14

Peter Duckett of Ann Arbor, MI USA asks...

In a game I was playing in not long ago, my team was losing by one, but were killing the opposing team's defense. A defenseman from the other team, on orders from his coach, just blasted the ball out of bounds into the surrounding forest, and it took several minutes to retrieve. Since the referee was totally inept, he did not stop the clock during this time and the game was finished right after the following play. For further notice, is there anything that a player or coach could do to stop the clock?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The clock does not stop. Instead, the referee adds time to compensate for time that was lost. Law 7 says, 'The allowance for time lost is at the discretion of the referee.' So if the referee determined that all time was accounted for, the game is over. You could report the referee for not allowing your full amount of time, but it is simply a case of your word against his.

Perhaps the ref determined that the game was about over when the ball was kicked into the woods. But if he had stopped the game then, he would have had to search for the ball. So he let the players find it, and then stopped the game immediately afterwards.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Peter
The referee is in sole charge of timekeeping and referees will add on time for lengthy stoppages. There is nothing that a player or coach can do to 'stop the clock'. In this case time had fully expired and the game ended when the referee signalled and teams have to accept that decision. If an error in timing has been made the referee can be asked to correct that such as playing 70 minutes instead of 90.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The laws permit this tactic by the defense, but give the referee the discretion to add enough time to make up for the delay in retrieving the ball.

The practical problem in youth play, particularly in tournaments, is that matches often are scheduled so closely together that the referee has a limited amount of time (or is precluded by tournament rule) to add enough time. So, teams engage in unfair (but lawful tactics) to use up time - - long clearances, unending substitutions. Sometimes even the losing coach will admit that her team would use the same tactic if they were ahead.

The referee has limited options to deal with this. One thing the referee can do, however, is to be strict about the 5 minute halftime usually imposed with these tight schedules. If half time lasts exactly 5 minutes rather than 8, the referee has found 3 minutes to add at the end.