Question Number: 25689

Law 7 - Match Duration 10/31/2011

RE: Competitive Under 16

Lisa Staven of Oceanside, CA USA asks...

We were playing a very close game and the score was tied 2 -2 near the end of the second half. A player on our team was making a shot on goal and the ref called a penalty on the other team before waiting to see the result of the kick, which was a score. The game ended as a tie because of this bad call. At the end of the game, the ref came over to our coach and apologized for the call and admitted that he made a mistake and the goal should have been counted. The ref said his hands were tied once he blew the whistle. Did the ref have any discretion in this case to take back the call since he realized it was a mistake right when it happened?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The ref was correct. Once the whistle is blown, you can't un-blow it.

The ref realized that he should have allowed for advantage to materialize before the PK was called. But because he didn't to that, play was stopped. And in the ref's defense, it could have been that it didn't look likely that the ball would go in the net, so he whistled to stop play immediately.

Think of it from the other team's perspective. They could argue that having heard the whistle, they stopped playing and didn't try to prevent the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No. A goal cannot be awarded when the ball enters after the whistle. All the referee can do is apologize and restart with the free kick or penalty kick.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Lisa
Once the referee stops play with the whsitle he has no option but to stop play. In this case the referee should have played advantage but his early whistle did not allow him to do that. He must then restart with the direct free kick.
Advantage can be a very difficult call for the referee. When it is used and it works well the referee is praised for his decision. If it does not work the referee usually has to endure some complaints.
I would also make the point that teams can influence the referee's use of advantage. Games that have a lot of shouting for decisions have a way of influencing the referee to stop play when there is a foul. So when an advantage call comes along the referee might go with the early whistle rather than looking for the advanatge. Teams that show the referee that they want to get on with play influence the referee to allow advantage.
The final point is that the referee here had the honesty to apologise for his mistake in not playing advantage. Referees like everyone else makes mistakes.