Question Number: 19394

Law 5 - The Referee 6/15/2008

Avery Haskell of op, ks usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 19233

Is the center obligated to yell play on or just stand there until the players realize there is no goal?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

"Play on" means that the referee has seen a foul, but is choosing to invoke advantage because continuing play will be better for the attacking team than stopping play for a free kick would be.

If players cease playing because they simply think something has happened - they think the ball went over the line, or they think there was a foul - the referee can say, "Keep going" or "Ball's in play." The referee should avoid doing this if it will unfairly affect one team over the other. The referee should be more likely to do it if the confusion could have been caused by the referee team - for instance, if the AR put a flag up for offside where the ref clearly saw there was no offside. Although the abiding principle for players should always be, "Play to the whistle." (Excepting those situations where the whistle would be superfluous, such as when a ball is clearly kicked well over a line.)

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You NEVER yell "play on" unless a foul has occured and you have given advantage. I would say "no goal" or "ball's in play" if there was some confusion but also like "play the whistle" so there is no confusion