Question Number: 18062

Law 7 - Match Duration 12/4/2007

RE: Rec Under 18

Jeffrey Izzo of Seattle, WA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 17291

I had a similar situation just last night (as I write this). My daughter's U19 team scored in the final seconds, breaking a tie -- but to everyone's surprise the ref called the game during these crucial milliseconds, negating the point. Her team lost in PKs. This rule seems to be unique to soccer. In basketball, for instance, if a player shoots and the buzzer sounds while the ball in in the air, and it goes in, the basket counts. Why is soccer different?

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Time is up when time is up (just like in ice hockey). The ONLY exception to that idea is if the referee has awarded a team with a penalty kick. When that happens time must be extended to allow the taking of the penalty kick, but once that process is complete time is considered expired.

Referees are charged with adding lost time back on to the end of a period of play for the amound of time unusually lost. If the referee felt that enough time had been added, then the game ends.

Read the laws of the game, they explain the timing rules of our amazing game.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Law 7 talks about the referee being the sole time keeper and his ability to add time for that lost due to whatever reason he comes up with. It is just possible the referee that day was too intent in paying attention to his watch rather than of the match and missed a great opportunity to add another second or two. That sometimes happens to us. There are even some referees who say they aren't getting paid extra for adding extra time so they just don't. If your daughter continues to play in college she will be faced with this same thing because there the match ends when the buzzer sounds, not when the referee says it does so the chances of loosing a goal to time is greater.

In America we are used to things ending but continuing until what ever is happening happens, that is just the way whoever wrote the rules wrote them. The Laws of Association Football, Soccer in this country and some others were written before Basketball and American football so your question should be why are American games different than Football not why is soccer different.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The same is true in Ice Hockey, I believe. It's that way because Law 7 states the referee is the timekeeper. The game is over when he says it is. You seem to think it unfair that the game ended before your team could score. Is it somehow more fair to allow a goal after time has expired? I doubt the defending team would agree. WHile I agree with my colleagues that most of us would add time with a scoring opportunity appearing, it is inherently unfair to the defending team to allow play to continue once you have decided time had expired. Were you involved with the other team, we would not have received this question from you.