Question Number: 23763

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 8/11/2010

RE: Rec Under 16

Leah of Thornton, Ontario Canada asks...

Hi, At a game I played recently the referee called an injury but the player was alright. The play restarted with a drop ball. The referee dropped the ball about a foot away from the players and told the green team to kick it to the red. When green kicked it to a red player near by they passed to a player. This all occurred fairly close to the penalty box. Was this right? Thanks.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The referee may drop the ball wherever he wants but under no circumstances is he to instruct the players as to who may kick it and where.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The referee may suggest a fair play restart - to restore the possession to the team that had it before the stoppage as best possible - but she may not insist on it.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Leah
Referees rarely have to get involved in these restarts after an injury stoppage as teams usually agree to kick the ball back to the team in possession in the interest of fair play. If however the teams are unsure then the referee can make a suggestion as to what should happen but he cannot insist.
My advice to referees is that unless it is a head injury or a serious injury then play should continue until the ball is out of play and the restart then is the throw in or goal kick etc with no intervention required by the referee. If the team wants to stop play then they can kick the ball out of play. It was shown that 58 per cent of the players who were treated on the pitch during the 2006 World Cup eventually turned out not to be injured. Stopping the game for cramp, strains etc is not required and indeed it is now used tactically by teams which referees must be aware of.
The only caveat on this is that in underage games the referee should adopt a cautious approach to player injuries.

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Leah, the ref had her heart in the right place but she executed the maneuver poorly. She obviously wanted fair play but ended up ORDERING fair play. What should have been done is suggesting fair play and almost always it works. In this case the team was not able show sporting behaviour. And on top of it, the ref took sides as to who should what.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The dropped ball should take place where the ball was located when the referee stopped play to assess the injury (if it was in the goal area, that will move out to the top of the goal area line).

If the player injured was the keeper in possession of the ball, most referees will drop the ball back to the keeper to pick up and restart play. This is not required, but is a fair play situation usually managed well by the great majority of referees.

Any other dropped ball should need no management or direction from the referee unless requested by the teams, in which case a suggestion regarding what is usually considered sporting may be made.