Question Number: 27808

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 9/24/2013

RE: Rec - AYSO Under 19

Led Gardner of Knoxville, Tennessee USA asks...

Situation: injury. Ref blows whistle, Injury handled. Since the ball was still in play at the time of the injury, the ref orders a drop ball. Must the ref blow his whistle while dropping the ball? If so, where does it say that in the Laws?

Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

No. It can be useful after a long injury to give the players a warning that the ball is about to be put into play by using two quick tweats. But, a whistle is not mandatory.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Led
A whistle is not required for a dropped ball restart. As Referee Wickham states it can be helpful to get players attention again on the restart particularly if the stoppage has been lengthy.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Technically a whistle is required. Under 'Use of whistle' on page 82 of the Laws, it says that the whistle must be used for a restart after an injury. But when it's a dropped ball, that's just silly. First, you're going to be blasting the whistle in the ears of player(s) getting ready for the drop. And second, everyone who is paying the least bit of attention knows what the ref is doing.

In general the rules for when to use the whistle are to ensure that a player doesn't take a restart when it's unexpected. That doesn't apply at a dropped ball.