Ask the Ref Responses

Ask the Referee: 2008/09 Indoor Questions and Responses

(Nov 10th) Question 6: Is shirt holding and pulling allowed? Should referee's and their assistant's not call this, even at premier level since it should be deemed a hold under Law 12?
It appears this foul tends to get "allowed" at higher levels of play and I fail to see why this is not called more often, since it is clearly not a proper tackle or positional fight for the ball and typically is a reach forward from the "grabber" who is behind and is using the hold to gain an advantage. These shirt pulls do impede progress. Some clubs appear to coach this technique to take advantage of referee\'s not calling this often or consistantly.

Response: Yes, this is a foul under Law/Rule 12. However there is another dynamic at play here described in Law/Rule 5 stating that a "The Referee...allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time". These are commonly refered as a Trifling Offence. The players at a level that are very strong on the ball are more capable of (and therefore more willing to) play through the shirt pull. They would rather keep play going unless they seriously suffer from the pull. Additionally, there is an expectation at the higher levels that the foul tolerance be higher to keep play moving. Essentially, if these are not called it is because the referee judges it to be a trifling offence. The higher the level, the more fouls become trifling.

(Oct 29th) Question 5: I was reffing a 6.00 pm midweek game and prior to 6.00 pm another team was training on the field and said they had it booked and paid for to 6.00 pm. The playing teams showed up and insisted that they get access to the field to prepare and warm up at 5.55 pm. I felt caught in the middle. What is correct and how do we stop this from happening in the future. I have heard of this happening?previously to other refs.

Response: Yes, this is a common problem every year. So this year I scanned and copied the Terms and Condition of Rental/Facility Rules published by the Calgary Soccer Center. You can place this in your Tool Kit. Advise the other team that this is posted on the back of their Field Rental Permit, and to refer to Item #10. In summary, the team must allow "...5 minutes before the end of their allotted time..." to vacate the field and allow the next team to come on.

(Oct 24th) Question 4: The Refs say you need to stay where you are. Why can't you go to the bench?

Response: You'll have to give me a bit more information. When does the Ref say you need to stay where you are? Is this when one of your teammates or oponnents is injured? Is it at the end of a game that needs a result/winner? Please write in again.

(Oct 2nd) Question 3: My daughter has her nose pierced and it is OK that she wears a bandaid or tape over this or it is a rule that it must be removed.

Response: All leagues have adopted the policy of NO JEWELRY, except for Medical Alert Bracelets, is ALLOWED to be worn on the soccer pitch. If it can be seen, it must be removed. Players used to be able to 'cover' or 'tape over' the jewelry, but this option was removed a few years ago.

(Sept 29th) Question 2: Could you please clarify the ruling about players bracing themselves against the boards in indoor soccer. In my experience there is wide variation in interpretation from ref to ref such that I am confused and often so are my players. Some do not call the infraction at all. Some will call it for impeding progress only if the player has clealy grabbed the boards and others will call it as soon as there is any arm or hand against the board.

Response: Referees will call this on a player that is using the boards to gain or maintain control of the ball. A couple of common examples of this are: Placing two (2) hands on the boards providing leverage to move an opponent back instead of simply shielding the ball; and or placing one (1) or two (2) hand)s) on the boards to 'impede' the path of an opponent to either provide more shielding or to force an opponent in possession of th ball to take a different path. Placing the hands on the boards is NOT an infraction (ie. to maintain balance). However if the Ref observes the player gained an unfair advantage by placing one or both hands on the boards, the Ref will call an infraction. Most Refs will see the potential for a player to gain advantage and verbally call out something to the effect of: "hands off the boards"; "careful about using the boards"; "no using the boards to gain advantage", etc. to make the players aware the Ref is watching.

(Sept th) Question 1: The ball is bouncing towards the goalkeeper about a foot or two off the ground. The goalie crouches low and used his forearms to control the ball which drops in front of him. He dribbles the ball to the edge of the area and picks the ball up as an attacker rushes in. Is the initial control using the forearms considered as possession in which case an IDFK should have been called. I didn't call anything as I could not think this through quick enough and even now would like your opinion. I chatted with the keeper after the game who said he was careful not to use his hands. I don't think the keeper's logic is quite correct as a handball for a player is from the hands through to the shoulder. However I'm still left wondering if the keeper actually had possession and if an IDFK should have been called?

Response: This is a judgement call. If the Keeper used his arms or hands to simply 'block' the ball to make sure it didn't get passed him by an unpredictable bounce, then yes he can 'handle' the ball in the area. If the ball was coming at the Keeper at a slow pace and the Keeper deliberately parried the ball down under control to gain more time, then the keeper did have control and can not handle the ball a second time. If you are positive it is the latter, rather than wait to see if the Keeper handles it a second time, the better 'Game Management' would be to advise the Keeper that the ball was under his/her control and not to handle it a second time.