Question Number: 22872

Law 5 - The Referee 2/26/2010

RE: Adult

Carlos of Sacramento, CA US asks...

A player gets a second yellow but the ref doesn't realize it's the players second yellow and doesn't show him the red card. The player plays on and said player scores a goal. The ref then realizes this player should have been sent off (after the goal).
Is the goal scored valid, when is the player sent off (if at all), and how does the referee resume play?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee must show the red card on discovery of the error, and the team will play short from that point on.

The referee also must report what happened and the details of the error in the match report. I expect that the league later would address any issues concerning the fairness of a player participating when she should not have been on the field of play and would have a range of options (from nothing to replay to forfeit) to resolve the issues.


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Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

From the Advice to Referees - 2009/2010 Edition, and quoted from section 5.13:

"If play has been properly restarted, it is normally the case that a card may not thereafter be given for any acts of misconduct which occurred prior to the stoppage of play directly preceding the restart.
However, there are circumstances in which the referee may issue a card despite play having been stopped and then restarted.
First, if a player was shown a second yellow card but not sent off for having received the second yellow card in the same match, the referee may display the red card whenever the omission is pointed out. The failure to send off a player after a second caution and the subsequent correction of this error does not invalidate any action by that player or by the team of that player during the period of the match following the moment the send-off should have occurred. The only exception is if the player's team scored a goal and the failure to send off the player is corrected before play is restarted, in which case the goal must be canceled."

Which means the goal scored by the subject player or his team will NOT count if the referee does what he should have already done (TSK!) and sends him off before play is restarted after the goal. The restart? A goal kick (the ball left the field last touched by an attacking player and NO GOAL was scored) is not unreasonable, but an IDFK is probably the most correct choice under the Law. The player who has two cautions is still a player until the red card is shown.

However, if the referee continues to be clueless, and allows play to restart after the goal by the subject player's team and only later comes to his senses and sends him off, the goal did count. If he stops play to send off the subject player, the restart is a dropped ball wherever the ball was when he stopped play.

And of course, the referee will have to write this very serious error up in excruciating detail in his report. Moral: DO NOT EVER LET THIS HAPPEN!!!


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Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Since play had not restarted after the goal, the referee may disallow the goal. Restart with a goal kick. Now the entire referee crew has egg on their faces and the referee has an embarrassing amount of paperwork to do. Although we hear of this from time to time, it's inexcusable that not any member of the referee crew caught this.

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