Question Number: 14197

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/20/2006

RE: Competitve Under 14

Steve Salis of Vero Beach, Florida USA asks...

In a game last night an attacker had a 1 v1 with a goalie about 13 yards in front of the goal. The attacker extends his arm to ward off the goalie. The goailie pushes out with both arms and makes contact with the attacker. The attacker did shoot an off balance shot and missed.

I was the AR on this half of the field. The CR had a clear view of the play and made no call. My instinct was to raise my flag to call the push by the goalie, because it did affect the shooter. I did not raise my flag, per instructions from the CR in our Pre-Game discussion. I simply signaled for a Goal Kick.

A.) Was my instinct correct? If so a pk would result and probably a Red Card for DOGSO. Seems extreme.

B.) Did I do the right thing, by honoring the CR's instructions and playing on his call?

I am a brand new referee, so I'm trying to reconcile the Laws with reality of play.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Would be hard to say without seeing it. Sounds like you are correct if keeper pushed attacker and caused him to lose balance. The Laws of the Game mention this as a push. We would need to more to declare it DOGSO here as I would need to know angle of attacker to goal.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

If the referee in his pregame said to keep the flag down if he has a clear view, you should do so. That said, you should at least talk to him after the game or at the half about this. If you really felt there was a foul and the referee needs to be aware of it, raise the flag. He'll come talk to you about it and then it's up to him.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Follow the prematch instructions. BUT, here the ball is out straight away, call the referee over and voice an opinion. This will be new information and the referee can act on it if he chooses. He probably won't but the defense will see you talk to him and will know what they did. This will have the desired effect, and it won't happen again.

Regards,