Unsporting Stoppage - What Would You Do?

[andrewt14]

Saturday I was the center of a competitive U-13 match. Toward the end of a 2-0 game, a player on the losing team went down after a collision. The team that was winning played the ball out of bounds about 25 yards from their own goal. When play was to resume, I instructed the player from the team that was losing to throw the ball in to the opposing goalkeeper. Before he did I told several players who were getting in position to attack to back up and let the goalie retrieve the ball.

I explained that their opponent had played the ball out to allow me to check on their hurt player. After the player on the losing team threw the ball toward the goalie, one of the players on the losing team turned around and went in and challenged the goalie who was very slow to respond to the thrown ball. The player on the losing team won a corner through his challenge. The team that was winning was rightfully upset with me.

Before the corner was taken I explained to both teams what happened and scolded the player on the losing team for his continued unsporting behavior. I had already cautioned the unsporting player midway through the second half for persistent infringement and for that reason alone I did not caution him.

The AR was on the side where the throw was taken. He said he wished he had thrown up the flag so I could stop play and do a drop ball right in front of the goalie without an opposing player nearby. No harm was done, however, as nothing came from the corner.

How would you have handled the situation?

[Laggard]

I'm confused. It was a throw in. They can throw it where ever they want. Why did you instruct them to throw it to the keeper?

I must have missed something.

[blech]

i do not believe it would be appropriate to caution the player. although unsporting in one sense, there is nothing that requires the team to give the ball back to their opponent. (i don't know if my mind would change about this is what you are really saying is that they deceived the other team into believing that they would give the ball back to them but then tricked them, but i don't think so).

your options then become limited:
(1) blow a late whistle for a bad throw-in
(2) not see the ball deflect off the goalie and award a goal kick instead of a corner
(3) blow a whistle to stop play for any reason (to tie your shoe if necessary), and then restart with a drop ball

none of these options are great as you are really going outside the laws of the game. fortunately, it didn't result in a goal, either directly on the play or on the ensuing corner.

[andrewt14]

I'm confused. It was a throw in. Why did you instruct them to throw it to the keeper?

I must have missed something.


The ball was kicked out of bounds intentionally because one of the players on the opposing team was laying on the ground feigning injury.

[refmike]

It was incorrect of you to instruct a player where to throw the ball. You could have infomed them that it would be considered good sportsmanship to do so but you cannot order it. Not all teams are ready for this level of consideration and you should allow them to play their own game. The team that put the ball out was now expecting you to enforce your instructions but you cannot.

The answer is to make a suggestion (perhaps to the coach) OR to call the ball dead before it is kicked out. If you restart with a dropped ball, you can drop it in front of a single player of the team that had control when you stopped play. That is what I do for serious injurys. For minor injurys I let the teams do what they will and hope they will learn as they grow up.

[andrewt14]

i do not believe it would be appropriate to caution the player. although unsporting in one sense, there is nothing that requires the team to give the ball back to their opponent. (i don't know if my mind would change about this is what you are really saying is that they deceived the other team into believing that they would give the ball back to them but then tricked them, but i don't think so).

your options then become limited:
(1) blow a late whistle for a bad throw-in
(2) not see the ball deflect off the goalie and award a goal kick instead of a corner
(3) blow a whistle to stop play for any reason (to tie your shoe if necessary), and then restart with a drop ball

none of these options are great as you are really going outside the laws of the game. fortunately, it didn't result in a goal, either directly on the play or on the ensuing corner.

Thanks for the reply. I considered all three actually, but did not have the nuts to follow through. I was kind of shocked that the kid would trick his opponent, but what I would have cautioned the player for unsporting behavior had he not been sitting on a yellow.

[andrewt14]

It was incorrect of you to instruct a player where to throw the ball. You could have infomed them that it would be considered good sportsmanship to do so but you cannot order it. Not all teams are ready for this level of consideration and you should allow them to play their own game. The team that put the ball out was now expecting you to enforce your instructions but you cannot.

The answer is to make a suggestion (perhaps to the coach) OR to call the ball dead before it is kicked out. If you restart with a dropped ball, you can drop it in front of a single player of the team that had control when you stopped play. That is what I do for serious injurys. For minor injurys I let the teams do what they will and hope they will learn as they grow up.

At U13 I think it is appropriate to instruct players on basic sportsmanship. Really, my order was just a suggestion as I did not punish the team for not following directions.

Your suggestions are well taken however.

I did not stop play because I did not believe the player was injured and thought he would get up soon (he did and play was never officially stopped).

Your approach to "let the teams do what they will and hope they will learn as they grow up" seems like it disregards respect for the game and how it should be played. As a referee, do you feel responsible for promoting sportsmanship or do you simply enforce the letter of the law?

[Daniel le Rouge]

Two things:

1) If the keeper wasn't paying attention to you and was slow to respond to the ball, that was either HIS stupidity or unsporting conduct, depending on whether you thought it was deliberate. In either case, allowing a challenge under those circumstances is appropriate, since there is no restriction on him using his hands to play the ball on an opponent's throw-in .

2) You need to be more clear in your instructions--you need to call for one of two specific things:

Either team A throws the ball to Team B's goaltender, who then boots the hell out of it--putting the ball into play in a 50/50 situation, thus restoring the competitive balance or you can instruct Team A's player to throw the ball directly over the endline, resulting in a goal kick, and the same restoration of competitive balance.


Regardless, the restoration of competitve balance is the important thing, and the only way to achieve that is through a 50/50 ball in midfield--let the players decide the issue of possession. Couch your instructions as carefully and clearly as possible to achieve that end, and you've achieved your goal with a minimum of interference.

[andrewt14]

Two things:

1) If the keeper wasn't paying attention to you and was slow to respond to the ball, that was either HIS stupidity or unsporting conduct, depending on whether you thought it was deliberate. In either case, allowing a challenge under those circumstances is appropriate, since there is no restriction on him using his hands to play the ball on an opponent's throw-in .

2) You need to be more clear in your instructions--you need to call for one of two specific things:

Either team A throws the ball to Team B's goaltender, who then boots the hell out of it--putting the ball into play in a 50/50 situation, thus restoring the competitive balance or you can instruct Team A's player to throw the ball directly over the endline, resulting in a goal kick, and the same restoration of competitive balance.


Regardless, the restoration of competitve balance is the important thing, and the only way to achieve that is through a 50/50 ball in midfield--let the players decide the issue of possession. Couch your instructions as carefully and clearly as possible to achieve that end, and you've achieved your goal with a minimum of interference.

Thanks, I agree.

I don't think the goalie was paying close attention and that is how I defended myself to the boys when they complained about the challenge. I told the defenders to talk to their goalkeeper and to be more aware of what is happening on the field.

[Crowdie]

Saturday I was the center of a competitive U-13 match. Toward the end of a 2-0 game, a player on the losing team went down after a collision. The team that was winning played the ball out of bounds about 25 yards from their own goal. When play was to resume, I instructed the player from the team that was losing to throw the ball in to the opposing goalkeeper. Before he did I told several players who were getting in position to attack to back up and let the goalie retrieve the ball.

I explained that their opponent had played the ball out to allow me to check on their hurt player. After the player on the losing team threw the ball toward the goalie, one of the players on the losing team turned around and went in and challenged the goalie who was very slow to respond to the thrown ball. The player on the losing team won a corner through his challenge.

The issue I have with this is that the team that had possession of the ball and put it out so an opponent could receive treatment has now been disadvantaged unfairly. If I was in your position (allowing that I have a New Zealand attitude to this and in the US your attitudes may be different) I would have booked the player for unsporting behaviour.

If that player did the same thing in a senior game here the next tackle on him would be extremely hard and would put him on his ass. This is what booking him for unsporting behaviour would protect him from.

Crowdie

[Laggard]

I'd feel ok suggesting what a player should do if it were a U8 match. Not U13 though.

[Crowdie]

I'd feel ok suggesting what a player should do if it were a U8 match. Not U13 though.

These players are still only 13 though.

Crowdie

[Laggard]

Freddy Adu is 13.

[Statesman]

It is certainly worth mentioning to the player taking the throw it would be a nice gesture to return the ball to his opponent's defense. However, it is not something we can enforce. This topic has come up twice in recent history at BigSoccer, and the one reply I always feel is the best is the one Ken Aston gave when posed with this scenario:

"Foul Throw"

[Caesar]

It is certainly worth mentioning to the player taking the throw it would be a nice gesture to return the ball to his opponent's defense. However, it is not something we can enforce. This topic has come up twice in recent history at BigSoccer, and the one reply I always feel is the best is the one Ken Aston gave when posed with this scenario:

"Foul Throw"
That is it in a nutshell.

You can suggest if you wish - personally, I wouldn't, this is a matter for the players IMHO. However, you cannot dictate what a team does with a throw-in by handing out cards for USB. A throw-in is a throw-in and they have the right to decide how it is taken, just like any other circumstances.

I agree with Statesman - quite often, these just happen to be foul throws.

[Crowdie]

However, you cannot dictate what a team does with a throw-in by handing out cards for USB. A throw-in is a throw-in and they have the right to decide how it is taken, just like any other circumstances.

When one team has the grace to put the ball out so an opposition player can receive treatment and the opposition doesn't throw the ball back to them they risk this great tradition of sportsmanship. The next time an opposition player goes down the team may not put the ball out so that player will not receive treatment at all. This is a classic case of unsporting behaviour. I wouldn't book the player who threw the ball in but the player who intercepted it before the keeper is guilty of unsporting behaviour.

Crowdie

[Caesar]

I would perhaps agree with you when the intent of the throw was to return the ball to the other team, and the intercepting player deliberatly prevents this mutually understood act of sportsmanship. This, however was not the point I was addressing in the above post.

I was concerning myself with the issue of where the thrower decides to retain possession with his team. He has no obligation under the laws to throw the ball to the opposition, and it would be a gross misuse of the referee's powers to say to him "you must return possession to Team X, or you will be cautioned". The right of the player under the laws to take the throw-in in accordance with them cannot be overriden by the referee. Ultimately, it is the decision of the thrower.

****************************************************************

Take for example a penalty shootout. Kicks are even until sudden death, where the first team takes their kick. The goalkeeper is wrongfooted and the ball is heading straight in - when it bursts before crossing the goal line. The laws say the kick is declared complete - and a miss.

Can the referee really tell the next penaltytaker to deliberately miss the next kick under threat of caution? Is the referee empowered to INSTRUCT the kicker NOT to win the game on this kick, and continue sudden death, on the grounds that it is the sportsmanlike thing to do? No, of course not - and it is exactly the same principle as the throw-in.

[Gary V]

For those who claim this is unsporting behavior, please provide reference to some document released by a national association instructing referees that it is so.

It is not unsporting behavior. It may offend our sense of fair play. But it is not a referee issue. There was a game in the EPL that was replayed a year or two ago over this issue - but that was the decision of the teams and league, not the referee.

For those who would call a foul throw, remember that you told the player to throw it toward the goalkeeper. He complied with your request; it was his teammate that intercepted the ball.

Referees need to be careful in instructing players what to do. If we tell them where to throw the ball, what's next? Telling them who will play midfield? We can certainly remind players of the traditions of the game and what fair play requires. This is especially true at younger ages and in recreational leagues, where players are learning the game. But we cannot make up calls when players offend what we think "should be". We can only enforce the Laws.

[refpat]

I fully agree with Gary V. Where in the LOTG does it give us, the referee, the power to tell players how to play their game. We can sanction them for doing wrong, and praise them for doing right, but not tell them how to do it. Sportsmanship is to taught at home, or by the coach, not us. Giving a caution for USB would be a terrible travesty to the game. We are not empowered by the LOFG to do so. We should never tell players to throw the ball to the opposing team, it may not only be construed as inappropriate interference but also as altering the outcome of the game and grounds for appeal. As for calling a foul throw, when in fact there was none, who now is becoming unsporting?
The game is meant to be played with as little interference as possible by us, and then only to control thing that happen outside the Laws, it's not up to us to makeup our own laws as we go just because we feel it is the "Right thing to do". Sorry but this has been a sore spot with me for along time and I tend to get on a soap box occasionally.

[But Referee]

These players are still only 13 though.

Crowdie

Not to nitpick, but they are actually UNDER 13....12 and 11 year olds

I remember an incident in the EPL a few years back (somewhere between 3 and 10 years ago, LOL) where the subsequent throw in resulted in a goal (ball was thrown in, player received, shot on goal, scored). Similar in that the ball was played out to benefit one team, and then they took advantage of the situation, disregarding what was the "right thing to do".

The advice that you cannot "force" the team to do the right thing is correct.



I would have cautioned the player for unsporting behavior had he not been sitting on a yellow.

andrewt14

Interesting.