Question Number: 22789

Law 3 - Number of Players 2/2/2010

RE: Rec Adult

Paul Gordon of Newcastle, England asks...

If a player was a conjoined twin, would they class as two players or just one?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Do they have two birth certificates or just one?

This determination is very unlikely to ever come up, because modern medicine has advanced to the point where conjoined twins (as rare as they are) can be surgically separated.

Answer provided by Referee Tom Stagliano

Paul

There was a national TV show in the USA that highlighted some medical miracles. In one case (and this was followed for at least ten hours of separate TV coverage) there were two high school girls (twins) who were co-joined in an inseparable fashion. They had one set of legs (one pair). One was left handed and one was right handed. There were two heads, two brains, and two personalities. They took two tests in class. They were 'dating' different boys. They had to take two driver's tests and each received a driver's license. They had to work together when driving, but one was in charge.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_and_Brittany_Hensel


However, given their physical limitation, and one set of legs, if they were playing soccer, I would probably count them as one player, since they only have one set of legs and could only occupy one position.

I would assume that they would physically only be able to play in recreational soccer, since while they could run, they couldn't run that fast. They did play sports in gym class at school. So, Recreationally, let them be on the team, count them as one player on the field for position purposes, but remember there are two of them who could dissent. I will assume the league will charge them two registration fees, however. That is what leagues are for.