Question Number: 25783

Law 10 - Method of Scoring 11/28/2011

RE: Adult

Chris Jones of Winsford, Cheshire England asks...

An attacker and defender are running after the same ball, heading towards the defender's goal. The defender is tripped and falls to the ground, and the attacker gathers the ball and scores past the goal keeper. Before the ball crosses the line, the referee blows his whistle. However, he then allows the goal to stand.

When asked after the game, the ref said that it is ok for a referee to blow his whistle (to signal a goal) before the ball has crossed the line.

Is this true? I have never seen this happen before in any football match I have watched.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Chris
First off if a defender is tripped then that is a foul against the attacking team and the goal should not be allowed.
Secondly when the referee blows his whistle play has stopped and there can be no more play until the game is restarted. If it is an inadvertent whistle then the restart is a dropped ball from where the ball was when play was stopped.
Finally it is no okay for the referee to signal for a goal before the ball has crossed the line.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

No, that is not OK. When the ref blows his whistle, that signals that play is stopped. A goal cannot be scored while play is stopped.

If the ref inadvertently blows the whistle when play should not have been stopped, the only remedy is a dropped ball restart.

It is also not necessary to blow the whistle at all to indicate that a goal was scored. The whistle is only needed if play continues, for example if the ball goes over the line and is immediately knocked back into play.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Unless all of the ball has crossed all of the goal line before the whistle, a goal should not be allowed. The referee has not made a correct application of the laws of the game.

Referees immediately realize when they have made a mistake in blowing the whistle too quickly and not allowing the advantage. But, they must live with the mistake. The courageous referee must apologize and award the correct restart.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

This referee needs some retraining. Please contact your local referee association and let them know what was said so they can correct the referee's information.

Play stops when the whistle is blown. No goal can be scored if the whistle is blown before the ball enters the goal. That is fundamental.

There is no requirement to blow the whistle if a goal is scored, unless the ball has re-entered the field immediately. The referee is flat wrong.

Once he blew the whistle, play was dead. No goal. Only possible restart at that point is a dropped ball, because there was no offense committed by either team which caused play to be stopped.