Question Number: 14535

Character, Attitude and Control 12/2/2006

RE: Community Under 8

Alan of Vancouver, BC Canada asks...

After a ref makes a call (stops play, whistle, etc)...is it permissible for a captain or a coach to request a rule clarification with the ref? That is...not to "argue" the call per se, but if a ref makes a call that is wrong per the Laws of the Game, and the ref understands they have erred...will the ref EVER correct the call ? For instance, in volleyball, it is permissible for a team captain to question a call per the rules but not per "what the ref saw or didn't see"...if the ref then concludes that the ref has erred in applying a rule, the call is corrected and play resumes. I have never seen that done in soccer. Why? Are the refs "afraid" to admit a mistake and correct it (if the error is capable of correction, that is...)? Or, is it a part of the Laws that a ref cannot change his/her call?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Alan what there is to go on in this Game is written about in Law 5 - The Referee. It says:

The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.

The referee may only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or, at his discretion, on the advice of an assistant referee, provided that he has not restarted play or terminated the match.

Notice the Laws of the Game allow any decision to be changed once it is realised something is incorrect. Also please note the realisation comes after conferring with a neutral assistant referee, someone uninterested in the outcome of the match. He has no bias!

The captain of a side usually has some bias. As referee I have asked a defender if he touched it last when I may have had a decision wrong. In almost every case the player was so surprised he told the truth. My decision changed on that information. If one of my assistants gives me information regarding something I have missed or if I have misapplied the Law I will change my mistake so long as I have not restarted play. Note: play may seem to have restarted but unless I allowed it it has not.

For the most part a coach or the side's captain asking about a decision will get an answer from me, regarding the nature of a restart of play, direct or indirect. If they seem to just be curious they will be given information regarding why play stopped. A loud voice and insistence gets nothing but trouble. Reason: The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.

This is especially true when the U-Little's are involved, they are only parroting their coach because they don't know the Laws yet. In being asked to do this they are being taught the authority of the referee is meaningless.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Alan ,
law 5 the referee

Facts connected with play shall include whether a goal is scored or not and the result of the match.

The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play are final.

The referee may only change a decision on realising that it is incorrect or, at his discretion, on the advice of an assistant referee, provided that he has not restarted play or terminated the match.
acts on the advice of assistant referees regarding incidents that he has not seen;

takes action against team officials who fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and may, at his discretion, expel them from the field of play and its immediate surrounds;


At issue is the ongoing dissent and abuse at all decisions foster a barrier when a true issue arises. If you read most of our responses along these lines you will hear," The referee is a match condition like the weather, rain and cold or sunny and warm, or the surface of the pitch, hard and bumpy or soft amd smooth. You adapt and get on with the game!

Referees are at various stages of competence when it comes to game or player management, recognizing fouls and understanding the application of the laws. Some referees are by nature not easy to talk to others talk too much! Some feel threatened or intimidated some hostile and suspicious. It takes backbone to be a referee and if one tries it without a straightened spine the weight of dissent will crush his spirit and suck his soul from the game he thought he enjoyed!

A simple "My bad! " situation is not a death sentance to match control. Admitting an honest mistake huminizes a referee as long as it it not a series of ooopps changed my mind again and again throughout a match. Coaches rarely like to see a referee listen to the other coach and appear to change a decision based on that perpective.

I speak from experiance in coach mode watching referees force my team into replay situations by misapplication of the law.
It absolutely grates the nerves and during a match it is very difficult to fix it without getting yourself ejected or creating dissent forcing confrontational situations . I also know that in listening to percieved wrong doings those doing the percieving are simply flat out wrong!

It would not hurt for the captain at the start of the match to simply request if the referee was approachable in certain situations for clarification. Referees will not debate an issue but a quick explanation if time and circumstances allow. As a coach you can record and report what you see and hear but you MUST act responsibly during a match to set the example. Then if a protest occurs because of something the referee did your conduct is not at issue!

My suggestion is use your polite well mannered captain to initiate any chance of explanation. Do not try and referee the match COACH your kids no useless dissent or words directd to the referee. Teach your parents to praise kids not berate a referee, teach your players to respect the referee even if you or they think they are not the best one ever! A single referee surrounded on allsides by players, parents, coaches and fans feels the eyes and the pressure does make many nervous and defensive. If the match is not fraught with useless tension ,unneeded confrontation and ongoing dissent when something of a critical nature occurs you have a better shot at making things right. Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Alan. The referee is empowered to change ANY call he makes as long as play has not restarted. Does the coach or captain have a "right" to an explanation? Short answer is no. Soccer is a dynamic flowing game and oftentimes it would be impossible to give any explanations. usually, if approached in a polite and responsible manner, 99% of us are more than willing to discuss any call at the half or after the game. You bring up a valid point. What if the referee misapplies the Laws of the Game and a coach realises it? Say, for example, a teammate of the keeper deliberately kicks the ball to the keeper who picks it up inside his penalty area with his hands and the referee awards a penalty kick? If I were a coach I would yell, "That's an Indirect Kick" and leave it at that. Were I the referee, I'd thank the coach as we all have moments when we go brain dead. Not all referees, especially young or inexperienced ones, are willing to admit they made a mistake. this is true of all sports. That said, if the referee continues to ignore the coach, the coach should remain quiet as all that's going to happen if he continues is the referee is going to expell him from the game. The referee has misapplied the Laws. That's grounds for a protest. Let it go. Coaches that constantly throughout the game ask for clarifications only disrupt the flow of the game. Ask your questions at the half or after the game.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Despite popular opinion, the captains are not permitted to question calls. Some referees may allow the captains to do this and then it is announced at the coin toss that it is "ok" for captains to ask for an explanation about the call. My opinion is that there is no time. The team will want their quick kick right away and I can not take that right away from them by explaining calls. I agree with Mr. Contarino that 99% of referees will explain after game or at half if approached in a calm manner. I believe that the good referees will never make a "technical error" because they should know the Laws inside and out. Therefore most arguments in my game are judgemental things that I just do not care to talk about.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

As a youth rec soccer board member, as well as a referee, this is a subject near and dear to my heart. I think we need to restate the question. It's not, "Can I point out a misapplication of Law to the referee?" Rather, it should be, "What can we ALL do to make the game better?"

Remember that referees assigned to U-little games are most likely learning their craft right along with the players. Many of them are young, in their early teens. They are confident when dealing with the players, it's the coaches and parents that can be troubling. The problem is that the authority roles are switched, and often neither teen ref nor adult coach knows how to handle that. Normally we expect adults to be in charge of youths; when the youth is a soccer ref and the adult is a coach, that relationship is reversed.

In addition, when an adult figure speaks to a youth, even in the best of circumstances, the youth will perceive any criticism as "yelling at me". It's just the way they are. You could be speaking calmly, but they don't hear it that way. And most likely your voice will have to be raised, shouting to be heard across the field - no wonder the kids think you're yelling!

So what's the best way to handle it? Perhaps during the course of the game isn't the best time or location. OK, your team was just scored upon in a situation that resulted from a misapplication of the Laws by the referee - a PK instead of an IFK was a good example given by Ref Contarino. But in a U8 game, does it really matter? I know from the intensity of the crowds it looks like the WC finals are being run every hour on the hour at the U8 field all Saturday long. But next week, next month, next year, next decade, who will remember that you were shorted a goal in a 2-1 loss?

Youth leagues, especially the house teams, need to set up feedback mechanisms. There may be a way to report via email or on the website. You might call the division manager. The powers that be in the league will contact the powers that be in the referee association, and the referee will be notified by a ref instructor or a senior referee as to the particulars of the Law that weren't followed.

If your league doesn't have such a feedback system, perhaps you could volunteer to set something up. We can't have coaches contacting referees directly - there's that "yelling at me" thing again - so perhaps you could be a conduit between the coaches in your league and your ref association. That way you won't be correcting one mistake in one game - you will be serving everyone to ensure that games are safe, equitable and fun.

Answer provided by Referee Nathan Lacy

The LOTG are explicit and part of the intent of thos Laws is to simply get the decision rendered and get on with the match recognizing that opinions differ but it is the ref's opinion that matters. I believe part of the confusion in this area involves such changes as occur in the high school program that allows a coach to ask for an explanation on such things as yellow and red cards. This mentallity then, unfortunately and inappropriately, gets conveyed to other soccer venues and is exacerbated, again unfortunately, by referees who get so in the habit of answering such questions that they then help create that expectation in levels of play wherein this practice is not acceptable. So, having said all of that, the bottom line is that NO, they are now empowered to ask the referee such questions as you specify. However, if all hell is breaking loose because they have awarded an IFK for a deliberate handling of the ball in the PA then maybe, perhaps, they might want to give a second thought to their decision and ensure that their application of the LOTG is appropriate. As my mentor said to a coach regarding an offside issue during a college match where my mentor was my AR - give him a second coach, he'll figure it out (we all had a good laugh on that one). Sometimes taking an extra second to ensure proper application of the LOTG can save a lot of grief. All the best,