Question Number: 18085

Law 5 - The Referee 12/8/2007

RE: Grade one Adult

Liam Mc Guirk of Dublin, Dublin Rep Of Ireland asks...

This question is a follow up to question 5021

can any of the referees on your panel help me with two queries, during a recent referees meeting one of our instructors brought up the following, prior to the start of a game he observed to breaches of regulations by the 3 match officals, 1st being that the referee was wearing the same color jersey as the goal keeper which he says is not allowed and 2nd that bought asst refs entered the field of play with there flags rolled up, now the reason i ask the question about the color of jersey is that on many occasions i have witnessed refs wearing same color jersey the most recent game being the Irish cup final were all officals and one keeper wore yellow so is it a rule or not,with regard to rolled up flags,last tuesday in the game between Celtic and AC MILAN the asst refs entered the field with flags rolled up, help plase

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

How have you been Liam, well I trust.

Right, Law 4 addresses the referee kit indirectly where it states "each goalkeeper wears colours which will distinguish him from the other players, the referee and the assistant referees.

Assistant referee mechanics and how to carry their flag. This is something left to national associations. In America here is what we do and the logic behind it. The flag is furled or rolled up unless the match is actually in progress. The flag is carried away from the referee when it is rolled. The assistant referee unfurls his after he has counted the correct number of players in front of him, is assured the goalkeeper is in place and ready to begin and he himself is ready. This action tells the referee, at a glance, the assistant is prepared to begin, there is a correct number of players on the park and the keeper is sort of alert. It is a "No signal signal" if you will. When the period of play is over the each assistant furls his flag, collects a ball, if applicable, and joins the referee at a jog.

So the breaches of regulations might just have been national association policy and his depth of knowledge was not sufficient to explain what he saw, sad that...

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Liam, if the referees and the goalkeepers match in color, the goalkeeper is supposed to change, under the national guidelines here in the USA. However, most referees will change their shirts instead, which is also okay. If the match goes forward with the ref team and the goalkeepers in the same color, that's not good, but it's not the end of the world either, unless players begin to mistake the referee for the goalkeeper! It was interesting to hear your instructor felt the furled flags were inappropriate. I wonder what the reasoning is there? As Ref Fleischer noted, in the USA, we have the above procedure to enhance the communication of the referee team. Let us know if you find out more.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Actually the keepers are suppose to change if they have the same color shirt as the referee. Generally, referees change in this case. Yes though, your instructor is correct in that there should be 5 colors on the field.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The keeper is REQUIRED in law to change if there is conflict with jersey colour!
The referee crew could CHOOSE to switch if they had another colour of jersey.

The referee could with his discretionary powers deem the jersey sufficiently different as not to pose a problem or deem that it is unwise to spend match control credits at this stage to MAKE the keeper obey the laws.

As for flags rolled up. I have not seen any memo which states this is a violation of any standard except perhaps an arbitrary standard of a specific league or official. I adhere to the logic where when the assistant referee is standing with the unfurled flag in the proper restart/kick off position it is a hidden signal that all is well!

I want to interject it is in MY OPINION that the referees who allow such conflict at the highest levels do a disservice to their grass roots brethren by setting the standard of which we must choose to ignore.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Liam writes in answer to what we have said:

No question just a thank you for answering my query regarding flags and same jersey colors, in my games I always check the kits of both teams to make sure we do not match in anyway but it annoys me that you see officals in the professional game ignoring these matters. With regard to flags rolled up or unfurled I will be showing the e-mail to my fellow referees as there are some very interesting ideas.