Question Number: 26926

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 10/21/2012

RE: Competive Travel Under 11

Brian of Westminster, MD USA asks...

The goalie is in possession of the ball in her hands. A coach signals to the referee that another player is down and is hurt. The referee signals for the coach to come onto the field to attend to the injured player. After her replacement came in the referee takes the ball out of the goalies hands and calls for a drop ball between a white and blue player. Again, the goalie had the ball in her hands, the referee saw no injured player until the coaches yelled to him. Then he restarts with a drop kick between two players from each team. Should it not of been a drop ball to the goalie only?? The referee said I was wrong. I believe I was correct. The goalie had possession when the whistle was blown for the injured player.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Brian
A dropped ball is a method of restarting play when, while the ball is still in play, the referee is required to stop play temporarily for any reason not mentioned elsewhere in the Laws of the Game. So in this case the referee stopped play for an injury situation. It is of no concern to the referee who participates in the dropped ball and if the opponents want to contest the DB then the referee has no choice but to allow that to happen. So the referee was correct.
What has developed over recent years is what has been termed the 'Fair Play' restart where the DB is not contested and the ball is either kicked back to the team in possession or one team decides not contest it. That is not part of the Laws of the Game and it has caused all sorts of problems even requiring a law change this year. A goal can not now be scored directly from the DB.
I suspect that in a U11 game the players only responded to the DB as a restart in the normal way.
Personally I think too much is now made on 'injury' situations. I was an AR in a recent high level game and a player went down with a very minor injury close to the sideline. The CR did not stop the game until the ball went of play which he is entitled to do and the coach and physio went apoplectic about this both to the CR and to me on the technical area side. The game restarted with a throw in.
I also saw in a recent high level game where the referee stopped play for a head injury. As it was in the last minute there was lack of agreement what should happen at the dropped ball restart. Anyway the referee appeared to suggest that he was dropping the ball and it was contested. To cut a long story short two players were dismissed for violent conduct as one player took exception to the dropped ball being contested when he felt that the ball should have been 'given back' to them. That is not part of the Laws

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Brian,

When play is stopped for an injury, or for another reason not specified under the laws of the game, the restart is a drop ball.

Even if it's in the keeper's hands at the time, the restart must still be a drop ball.

However, the referee should not be actively seeking the attacking team to become involved in this - for the purposes of fairness, the referee is generally better off dropping the ball when just the keeper is there, who can then dribble the ball and/or pick it up after it hits the ground.

However, while the referee can take some steps to engineer the restart (such as dropping it at the keeper's feet before the attack has a chance to get involved), or can even suggest what the sporting thing would be, he cannot prevent the attacking team from participating if they choose to do so.

Even when they're quite young players who may not be aware of the 'sporting' way to act at such a situation.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The correct restart is a dropped ball.

In these circumstances, the better process is to drop the ball at a location where only the goalkeeper can pick it up. Everyone should recognizes that this is the sporting way to return to play.

But, referees have no power to prevent the opponent from participating in a dropped ball. At younger levels of play, the players don't always understand the sporting return. IMO, it is the coaches responsibility to teach the players this part of the game. Referees can inform and try to persuade, but cannot compel the players to respect this tradition.