Question Number: 19581

Law 5 - The Referee 7/7/2008

RE: Competive Adult

Jason of Chicago, IL USA asks...

I was reffing a game and my other ref forgot to count the players on his side before the game. 3 min into the game the team scored, but then i was informed by the other team that they had 12 players on the field. What is the proper thing to do in this situation...do i count the goal? start the game over?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

'My other ref'? Since you say this is competitive adult, not a high school game being played under NFHS rules, my solution would be to not have accepted a dual game in the first place. OK, rant off.

You - both of you - allowed the game to start in an illegal configuration. You cannot count the goal if you are convinced the attackers had an extra player on the field.

The provision in the Laws is for the extra player to be cautioned, removed from the field, and start with an indirect free kick. Since it was a screwup by the ref crew (who couldn't count), there should be no caution given. So, given that you have stopped the game for a reason not listed in the Laws, is the restart still an IFK, or is it a dropped ball on the top of the goal area, since the stoppage is technically for something not listed in the Laws (a ref screw-up)? I'm sure you can manage a dropped ball so that the goalkeeper ends up with the ball in his hands.

Or maybe the best answer is to restart the game again, as Ref Dawson suggests.

You can see there is a variety of opinions amongst the panel. It all arises from this being a situation not contemplated in the Laws - that the referee would give implicit permission for a 12th player to be on the field when the game starts.

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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Please tell me you meant to say your AR. If not, what on earth were you doing in the non-recognized 2-man system? End of my rant. Well, you should know what to do. A goal is scored. The team scoring the goal is found to have an extra player. Since you have not allowed play to restart, you do NOT count the goal, you remove the extra player from the field, you slap your 'other' referee in the face a few times for not counting, you vow never again to accept a match with the 2-man system, and you restart with an IFK in the opponents goal area. You do NOT caution the extra player because he was on the field of play due to referee error.

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Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

I don't understand, you and your two assistants have miscounted the number of players on the field. Shame, shame, shame.

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Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The goal cannot count and personally starting the match over sounds doable in such a short time frame. Thus restart with a new kick off and the correct number of players and learn a lesson.
You are already not following FIFA guidelines so who will argue?
11 aside one who is the keeper inside opposing halves not that difficult!
The common solution is to NOT award the goal , caution the extra player and ensure he is removed and restart with an indfk from inside the goal area.

A more realistic solution is to not caution a player! Fisrt off if they were ALL there at the start who gets to be picked? Especially if you as referee are responsible for this situation. The issue is without a caution can you restart with an indfk? It is done in the EPL where a verbal impeding will get a INDFK restart but no caution contrary to the way the law currently reads but deemed as an acceptable match decision by some as an non USB event.

The fact is ONE team HAD too many reguardless of how it occurred the restart is derived from that FACT! Personally I can not see a drop ball or a goal kick or a corner kick as correct restart for who lasttouched the ball as it went out of play but I find it difficult to justify a caution . I favour in this instance a restart from zero as the best solution and an INDFK out and three minutes wasted as the other.


Cheers


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Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Taking a look through available publications and policies we tend to think a caution and indirect free kick are acceptable in Law even though the Law was violated by the referee. The fact twelve players were on the field and the referee started the match is most regrettable and that would tend to ruin an otherwise good assessment for all members of the referee crew. That aside, the team's captain must bear some responsibility for having an excess number of players on the field and that is where the caution might come from.

Law 3 is clear, caution and show the yellow card to the extra player, remove him from the field of play, deny the goal and restart with an indirect free kick from the goal area.

We remain happy with denying the goal and removing our mistake. We are also happy with restarting the match with the correct number of players.

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