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Soccer Referee Questions on Soccer Rules

You-Call-It 26

Question...

During live play, after having been cautioned and shown the yellow card for a reckless challenge much earlier in the half, the goalkeeper for the blue team, in apparent frustration, storms off the field of play, muttering his disgust at the way his team mates are playing. He walks away from the goal, across the touchlines straight past the technical area and into the changing room!

At this stage, all other players and the referee are deep in the other half, attacking the red team's goal.

The AR controlling the technical area is responsible for the empty half, witnesses the blue goalkeeper leave.

Panicking, the coach for the blue team instructs his substitute goalkeeper to run onto the field of play into position, fully dressed in the same colours as the other goalkeeper!

The AR tries telling the coach and replacement keeper not to do this!

Just as our replacement keeper arrives in his goal area , the red team breaks away, launching a counter attack.

One on one with the blue replacement goalkeeper, a red striker shoots the ball for the top corner. The blue replacement goalkeeper makes an amazing save, tipping the ball over the crossbar and over the goal line.

At this point, the AR on the technical area side (who has witnessed all these events) calls over the referee and informs him of what has happened.

What action does the referee take?
Your Match! Your Decision! Your Reputation!

Our Hint

law 3 Law 5 Law 12 law 13

Our Answer...

First congratulations for taking a stab at answering this unorthadox situation. Even those with years of experience are still arguing over some of the written law versus law 18 elements. In instructing the ARs in pregame (check out the pre-game article by Gil Webber via the link on the front page for what this entails) Two very important responsibilities are (#1) Offside decisions and (#2) Under no circumstances let the referee screw up! Make him aware of the unseen or unknown including in moments of emergency entering the field and screaming for his attention if a raised/mirrored flag is not working. An AR and referee who are not communicating are not doing their jobs effectively or properly!
It is written in law a team of 11 players on the pitch one of whom MUST be the keeper! The keeper who left did it in a way that the AR was aware but not the referee. The AR is in possession of vital information, once the ball is out of play only then is the referee brought up to date!

Now it is entirely possible for a keeper to leave the field of play while the ball is in play. Usually for accidental reasons like momentum, from say, a challenge or effort to get to the ball first near a touch or goal line and he slides out or over runs. However is our dilatant keeper still considered to be the keeper given he has left the building just like Elvis? Effectively the team NO LONGER has a keeper on the field in person but do they in law? This is not likely a professional scenario, this is not World Cup nor likely a truly competitive pro or national league! This is Sunday beer league or Wednesday night English old puffers against the Latin good old boys

Can we do what is best for a match instead of do exactly what the laws of the game indicate? Not if the game is going to reflect a competitive standing that matters sigh

In terms of absolute clarity the laws here are fairly straight forward . The keeper who left, while no longer there is still guilty of leaving the field of play without the referee's permission. He can still be cautioned shown a yellow card and then a red card, written up in the misconduct report as a second caution. This will reduce a befuddled team down to ten players, ONE of which must be a keeper. Our enterprising fellow dressed as a keeper, who ran in to save the day, unfortunately, while looking the part, is not the keeper. He is a substitute, who entered the field of play without permission of the referee, who then denied an obvious goal by deliberately handling the ball! Now this individual is sent off shown the red card for his actions, this will not reduce his beleaguered totally befuddled team down to nine players because guess what he is not a player so they stay at ten whew lol No need to caution or show yellow card, the DOGSO is sufficient, just list all the actions in the misconduct report. Now the restart! The referee stopped play when the ball was saved and went out over the goal line but not between the posts or under the crossbar so likely thinking corner kick! However, once he is informed by the AR (who by the way really needs to step up his game) and the information of chaos and are you serious?? rains down he realizes there is no foul as the denial of the goal was by a substitute so he cannot award a PK! He has effectively punished the misconduct and must restart with an INDFK from where the DOGSO save occurred subject to the special circumstances within the goal area. So to sum up we have reduced the team by a player, punished another replacement keeper with a send off so he can no longer take part in the match and awarded a chance to score from close into the goal with an INDFK while one of ten try to find a pair of keeper gloves and a distinguishing jersey to fit.

Do not take the following below this as correct it is not! But it does speak to match control

Here is what he referee did on that day. Before he publically made any decision!

He was talked to AR puzzled, mad at him at first for not making a better effort to get him this info BEFORE but trying to get head around the information finally smiling and laughing at the absurdity of it all

He then talked to the two coaches, one he chastised for putting the keeper on and arguing with the AR and explained to both very clearly in law what he was required to do and why! The coach of the team that did nothing wrong actually argued that there was no need to do anything. He pointed at the other team's coach and said, "They need to have a keeper"! The referee thought a moment and replied, "OK then, I could bend the LOTG if you are willing. I will grant permission de-facto for the original keeper to have left because I would have just KNOWING he is sick/injured plus a complete idiot so no second caution, no red, no man down! Pointing to the keeper's coach, You as coach can deal with him! Personally I think you should drop his sorry butt from the roster!

I will not send off the new keeper, however, I will caution, show a yellow card to the substitute keeper and consider him a player for not informing me of the switch, as the team required a keeper to play and restart with a corner kick! Do you wish to continue playing knowing I have bent these laws into a pretzel or are you guys fine with 10 versus 11 and the both keepers gone? Match continued, everybody had a good laugh and ALL thought the old keeper was a total git or putz! Match ended peacefully players from both teams thanked him for not ruining the game by reducing a tired team down to ten for such an utterly ridiculous circumstance of a self loathing event. This is not correct in law but was it in your opinion upon reading this, correct for the match itself? Feel free to vent or offer your opinion! This was my match, my decision, my reputation!

One other solution was offered by a very distinguished retired FIFA referee
There is a major difference between a keeper (usually inadvertently) moving over one of the boundary lines in the course of play, with every intent to stay in the match, and get back on as soon as possible, and this particular case, where the player who was the keeper has now left PERMANENTLY. The result is that his team now has no goalkeeper. In this case this Law is not being complied with, and the game should stop. There is no room for discussion on this point in my opinion.

One other point on this matter that crossed my mind. This is one of these cases where there will be conflicts between different parts of the Laws, as shown by all the
opinions expressed. No single answer will solve all the variables.
In a case like this, perhaps the best decision is for the referee to abandon the match because it is such a mess, and make a report to the league or whomever, and let them decide what to do!

That was our Question YOUR Answer is...

Thomas a Referee from Chilliwack BC Canada

The facts connected to this situation are relatively simple. The Blue GK left the field without permission, and a substitute entered the field dressed as the GK and interfered with play (by denying a goal), without permission of the referee.

The easiest part of this is the caution to the GK for leaving the field without permission, as per Law 12. Because the GK has run off, the best procedure would probably be to make note of the player and time in your notebook and then quickly inform the coach that he has received a second caution, and therefore has been sent off.

What to do with the replacement GK is the real question here. In Law 12, it says “A player, substitute, or substituted player is sent off if he […] den[ies]the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball (this does not apply to the goalkeeper in his own penalty area”. Despite the last clause of the law, this offence is still applicable. Although his is acting as a GK (and presumably dressed as one), he is not a legitimate GK, he is a substitute. If a player on the field had got on the gear and started playing GK, that would be a different story. The replacement is a substitute, and as such, he is not allowed the privileges that the GK is. The only person on the Blue team allowed those privileges is currently in the dressing room.

Law 3 states that “If a substitute or substituted player enters the field of play without the referee’s permission: a) the referee stops play (though not immediately if the substitute or substituted player does not interfere with play) b) the referee cautions him for unsporting behaviour and orders him to leave the field of play and c) if the referee has stopped play, it is restarted with an indirect free kick for the opposing team from the position of the ball at the time of the stoppage.” .” It should be noted the required stoppage of play is not until the replacement GK interferes with play, so the play should not be stopped until the point when he handles the ball.

So…caution the player (Law 3) or send him off (Law 12)? Well, this is where Law 5 comes in.

“The referee: punishes the more serious offence when a player commits more than one offence at the same time.” This is the turning point for this situation. The substitute has entered the field, and interfered with play, a cautionable offence punishable with an IDFK. He has also committed a send off offence, by denying a goal with his hands. The latter is more serious of the two offences, and therefore, that is the one that must be punished. The restart would be an IDFK, for it was a substitute who handled the ball, not a player. The IDFK should be “taken on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the infringement occurred.”

All this sorted; the match is now played 11v10. It would be an easy mistake to think that since the replacement GK red card was a sub, his send off doesn’t change the number of players. The original GK received his second caution though, resulting in his send off also. Even though he left the field of play, he is still a player, and his send off DOES affect the number of players on the field.

James a Referee from Brisbane Queensland Australia

There are a number of issues that need to be dealt with in this situation.
1. The goalkeeper leaving the field of play without permission
2. The reserve goalkeeper entering the field of play without permission.
3. The reserve goalkeeper tipping the ball over the cross bar.

The goalkeeper who left the pitch must be cautioned and then sent off for his second caution in the same match, as he was previously cautioned, as that is one of the 7 yellow card offences (law 12, 2009).

The reserve goalkeeper must be cautioned for entering the field of play without permission, as that is also one of the yellow card offences (law 12, 2009).

As the reserve goalkeeper is technically an outside influence when he saves the goal, a drop ball is required on the edge of the goal area, opposite the area where the ball was when he tipped it away.

So, in summary:
Caution the goalkeeper for leaving the field of play without permission and then send him off for a second caution in the same match.
2. Caution the reserve goalkeeper for entering the field of play without permission.
3. Restart with a drop ball for an outside interference on the game.
Ca

Evan Kirshenbaum a Referee from Mountain View CA USA

Interesting scenario. Let me take a stab.

Blue keeper clearly deserves a yellow (and a red for second yellow)for leaving the field without permission. I don't believe that this warrants a stoppage, either for the card or for the blue team not having a keeper (since the keeper hasn't stopped being a player), so I'd award it at the next stoppage.

Assuming that play should continue, the substitute keeper coming on without permission also deserves a yellow, but this explicitly doesn't warrant a whistle unless he "interferes with play". If I'm AR, I should probably pop my flag as soon as it becomes one-on-one, but if I'm the ref, I'll play advantage and allow the shot. Since the substitute isn't the keeper, the save is a DOGSO.

At this point, I talk to my AR and show the keeper (or, as his proxy, the captain) a yellow (leaving) and a red (2nd yellow), and I show the substitute a yellow (entering) and a red (DOGSO-handling).

The restart is a PK for red. Blue plays down one man (since the substitute was never a player) after identifying a new keeper.

Or something like that. I suspect that I could sell it on the field.

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