Question Number: 15406

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 5/6/2007

RE: comp Under 13

Jerome of Sunnyvale, CA USA asks...

Hello. In my son's U12B game this weekend the ref stopped the game after noticing an opponent child on the ground in the box area. Nobody saw what happened as it was away from the ball. The ref asked the line girl if she saw anything. She said no but claimed there was another event involving a push. The ref decided on indirect kick inside the box. I'm wondering if it's Okay to bring another case into a decision. Thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Law 5 says the referee "acts on the advice of assistant referees regarding incidents that he has not seen." Assuming "the line girl" was a neutral assistant referee, someone who has been trained as a referee in her own right, it is entirely correct for the ref to ask her opinion.

However I can't think of anything "involving a push" that would result in an indirect free kick. Pushing is a penal foul, a direct free kick or penalty kick.

If a game is stopped solely to deal with an injured player, the restart is a dropped ball, at the location of the ball when the game was stopped.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The referee is obligated to stop play when he is of the opinion a player is seriously injured. He is within the Law to ask a neutral assistant for help regarding something he hasn't seen. He is also obligated to restart play in accordance with the reason for the stoppage in play.

In this case the referee stopped play be3cause of an injured player and for this Law 8 demands a dropped ball to restart play. He asked an assistant for amplifying information and found there was pushing involved. This, as explained in Law 12, is a direct free kick offense. Because the referee started with an indirect free kick he has not applied the Law correctly. It is hoped the referee was corrected by an instructor or assessor after using this improper restart.

Regards,