Question Number: 5008

Law 3 - Number of Players

RE: Rec

Simon Barker of maidstone, england asks...

In the 54th min of a game you notice that one team has 12 players on the field of play. What actions do you take.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Simon you must stop play, caution and show the yellow card to the 12th player and remove him from the field of play. This restart is a dropped ball as specified by the Laws of the Game. If this is noticed at the stoppage after a goal has been scored by the 12 man team you must disallow the goal as well. If you have allowed this to exist from the restart after the mid-game break, shame on you - count better next time and that fact must be addressed in your match report. The referee must be careful not deviate from the procedure outlined in Law 3 during a substitution because doing so may introduce the possibility of error...It is worthy of note that according to the Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game (a US Soccer publication) paragraph 3.3, the restart is an indirect free kick at the point it was when play was stopped...Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Fredrikssonk

Dear Simon!..I must disagree with my fellow colleagues. Yes, you must find one player to caution and yes he must be ordered to leave the field of play, but the restart however, is a dropped ball. I my opinion, the LOTG are very clear on this point. "If a substitute enters the field of play without the referees permission [...] Play is restarted with a dropped ball at the place it was located when play was stopped."..V?nligen

Answer provided by Referee Powell

The question is far to vague to warrent the above answers...It may be that you have given the 12th man permission to enter the FOP now if thats the case how can you caution anyone?..I would be looking to restart the game from the second half if that is the only point you know there were equal numbers. There have been precidents set in this, most notably in the Tranmere game in the FA Cup a few seasons back when a player was sent off and a substitute entered at the same time...Common sense has to be used and a full report supplied to the authorities. If possible take play back to such time as you are certain both teams had the correct number of players. If you are a long way into the game and believe the 12 men have been playing for say 30 minutes then I would remove the 12th man and continue to the end...restart could be anything.

Answer provided by Referee Nagy

Hi Simon! Stop play as soon as you notice that there are too many on the field. The trick with this question is that each team has only eleven PLAYERS but one team has put on an extra PERSON who is probably a legal sub. This is not a player. If it?s a sub, sure caution him but in unlimited substitutions this may not be possible. One way to do it is to ask the captain to tell the last player who came on the field to leave the field and you will continue. Soon enough somebody has to leave. If that person is a legal sub, he is cautioned. Because the problem was not caused by a PLAYER, the restart is a drop ball if the game was stopped while ball was in play, where it was, when play stopped except for the overriding conditions in Law 8. If the ball was out of play, restart as you would normally. Gene

Answer provided by Referee Victor Matheson

OK, obviously this one has caused some dissention among our members. After much consultation, here is our group answer. The first part is easy. Stop the game. Caution one of the players and have him leave the field. In games using limited substitution, the extra player can likely be determined by examining the roster and seeing who is listed as a starter and a substitute. In games with unlimited subs, decision is trickier. Common sense must be used, and help can be received from assistant referees, the captain, and the coaches in determining who the extra player is. This incident must be mentioned in the final game report. The final question remains about how to restart the game. If the game was already stopped when the 12th player was discovered, restart accordingly, that is however you would have restarted anyway. The only exception to this is if the 12th player is discovered after a goal by the team with 12 players but before the kick-off, in which case the goal is disallowed and the restart is a goal kick. If play is ongoing when the 12th player is discovered, the referee should stop play immediately. The LOTG are not exactly clear about how to restart is this case. According to Law 3, "If a substitute enters the field of play without the referee's permission," the restart is a drop ball from the point where the ball was when play was stopped. Also according to Law 3, "For any other infringements of this Law," the restart is an IFK for the other team at the point where the ball was when play was stopped. While it is clear that a substitute must have entered the field without the referee's implicit permission for 12 players to be on the field, we are of the opinion in the U.S. that the substitute can only be punished with a drop ball if the substitute is caught at time of the entry onto the field. If the illegal entry is only discovered after the fact, the punishment is an IFK. Other national associations may not hold this same opinion, and suggest that the restart should be a drop ball, but until further clarification, an IFK is how it is done in the U.S. Remember that the most likely cause of the extra player is a referee error, so a little care during substitutions and the beginning of periods should avoid this problem in almost all cases.

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

See Question: 14563