Question Number: 26437

Law 5 - The Referee 6/11/2012

RE: Competative Under 11

Rob of Oceanside, CA USA asks...

When a Ref stops play for an injured player, on the restart the Ref places the ball on the field and ask the other team to simply pass the ball back to the keeper to restart play.It is the sportsman thing to do. Can a Ref tell a player where he or she has to play the ball? Can the player simply play the ball to their own team and is there anything a Ref can do about it.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

1. It is the sporting thing to return the ball to the team that was in possession when play was stopped because of an injury.

2. The coach should teach the sporting return to the team. Another way to achieve the result is for the team receiving the dropped ball to kick the ball out of play for a throw-in to the team that originally was in possession.

3. The referee cannot force a sporting return. The referee can encourage it.

4. The referee must make sure that when a team is doing a sporting return that everyone knows what is happening. Players can get extremely angry if someone tries to score when everything thinks the ball is being returned. Conversely, if a team is not interesting in a sporting return, the referee should make sure everyone knows it is a contested dropped ball.

5. Is there anything the ref can do about it? During a sporting return once, a striker didn't hear (or disregarded) his coach's instruction to let the ball go back to the keeper. Instead, the striker intercepted the ball and advanced l on a breakaway. I stopped play - - - to check on the condition of the ball. Sure enough, that ball was found (by me) to be unplayable. We got a new ball, and I restarted with a (contested) dropped ball.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rob
Within the Laws of the Game there is nothing that the referee can do to force a fair play restart.
However refereeing is an exercise in human relations. So a well managed match implies that the referee is "in control" and every incident which is contrary to the letter and/or spirit of the Law can reduce the effectiveness of the referee to control the match.
The referee retains control only by taking appropriate action and these fair play restarts that are not properly managed can lead to unsavoury situations, some of which resulted in brawls, sendings off, cautions etc.
My advice is to get an understanding of what is about to happen and then ensure that everyone is aware of that. If the ball is not going to be given back then a contested dropped ball is the 'best' restart.
From the 1st July 2012 the referee has an added tool in the Laws in that a goal cannot be scored directly from a dropped ball restart. FIFA has stated that '' there have been a number of occasions where goals have been scored from 'uncontested' dropped balls. This has put a great deal of pressure on the referee as he has to allow the goal to stand. We then have the unseemly situation where the opposition allows the team to score from the kick-off without any players trying to stop them in order to re balance the game.''

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Simple answers are:
1. No
2. Yes
3. See Ref Wickham's answer. We referees are an imaginative bunch!

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 26459