What happens when the referee can't continue?

[pasoccerdave]

:confused: In the MetroStars - Revolution match tonight, there was an incident where the referee was clocked in the head by a clearing ball. He went down, and stayed down for several minutes while the game stopped itself and the medical personnel rushed to his side.

The good news is that he was able to continue. My question is this: if he was not able to resume, who would then take over running the middle? Would it be the SAR, or would the 4th official step in? Who, if anyone, would take over for the 4th official?

[MassachusettsRef]

:confused: In the MetroStars - Revolution match tonight, there was an incident where the referee was clocked in the head by a clearing ball. He went down, and stayed down for several minutes while the game stopped itself and the medical personnel rushed to his side.

The good news is that he was able to continue. My question is this: if he was not able to resume, who would then take over running the middle? Would it be the SAR, or would the 4th official step in? Who, if anyone, would take over for the 4th official?The competition authorities decide on whom takes over. Ahead of time, on the USSF pro site, each MLS game has a notation that says whether or not the 4th takes over or the SAR takes over (more often than not, it's the 4th). That's what determines who would take over. It's really simple. If the 4th is declared as the replacement, it's because he's a regular MLS official....if it's the SAR, it's because the 4th is a local guy who hasn't worked MLS a lot. More often than not--at least the past few years...the 4th would take the whistle.

[Englishref]

:confused: In the MetroStars - Revolution match tonight, there was an incident where the referee was clocked in the head by a clearing ball. He went down, and stayed down for several minutes while the game stopped itself and the medical personnel rushed to his side.

The good news is that he was able to continue. My question is this: if he was not able to resume, who would then take over running the middle? Would it be the SAR, or would the 4th official step in? Who, if anyone, would take over for the 4th official?

Just to add to MassachusettsRef, the vast majority of the time, at least in most top-level games/leagues, it is the FO who will take as over, as he is usually the most senior referee of the other 3 officials. In almost every league nowadays, the FO will be another top level referee. E.g. in England, the PL games have either a SG FO or a NL FO. The will always come on. In the FL it may be different, as the FO is usually (except on the 'big' FL games, i.e derbies, televised games, etc) a NL/SG assistant. So it will then be the most senior assistant of the three in refereeing terms, usually an established Panel League referee.

As for who takes over the FO's job, as there are only ever 4 officials appointed, it can cause some problem. The injured official cannot take over the FO's job, like most fans think, as it may be the case that the FO needs to take over another injured official, which he wouldn't be able to do. However, in England, referees usually bring with them friends or colleagues to watch them, so if they are in the crowd, a tannoy announcement will go out asking for them to come and do it, kitted up or not. If there isn't, then an announcement will go out for any qualified referee to come forward, and the most senior of those will take over. It happened last season in the Carling Cup (WBA vs Arsenal), where an assistant got injured, and the FO, Barry Knight took over the line. Fortunately, Dermot Gallagher was in the crowd as a guest speaker for some function. Being of Irish origin, he had a couple of pints, but took over the FO post. :D

As for what happens if a second official goes down injured, let's not even go there! :D

[whitehound]

Speaking of this, did you guys hear about the womens final in the olympics? the center referee couldnt come out for the overtime and they had to finish with a differant center!!! Pretty embarrasing!

[Crowdie]

For FIFA tournaments the 4th official will replace the CR if he/she is unable to continue at any point. At this level you are either a specialist CR or AR and the 4th official is always a specialist CR. The logic behind this is pretty obvious.

Speaking of this, did you guys hear about the womens final in the olympics? the center referee couldnt come out for the overtime and they had to finish with a differant center!!! Pretty embarrasing!

Any CR worth his/her salt will stand down if he/she is unable to give 100% to the game. When you are the CR for an Olympic final and you cannot give 100%, as obviously was the case here, then you owe it to the players to stand down and that is what this official did.

[HoldenMan]

You don't know the reasons behind that ref pulling out.

If you know you can't perform to your best and that the leaving it to the 4th official is the best option by the game then it would take more guts to make that call than to go out there anyway.

[MetroFever]

I was at that game last night, and never saw anything like it. There were two things that came to my mind:

1) What if the attacking team scores moments after the official is unconcious. Does it count?

The assistant refs don't have whistles to stop the play dead. Yesterday, it was a non-issue because players from both teams immediately regonized what happened, but I did wonder what the ruling would be.

2) If the official is "unfit" to continue his duty after being attended to, can the FO or the assistant refs overrule him and take over as head official?

If you didn't see the game, Tenya Bonseu of the MetroStars attempted to clear out the ball, but instead wound up smacking the official in the face with it, who was only 3 yards away. He took two steps and fell face first. At first, I thought he collapsed, or perhaps even suffered a concussion since Bonseu's shot was real hard and he didn't move for the first 20 seconds. After being down for about 3 minutes, he got up, looked groggy and continued.

Considering the hard shot he took, I couldn't believe he continued the game. Couldn't someone have "over-ruled" him and took over?

[Crowdie]

I was at that game last night, and never saw anything like it. There were two things that came to my mind:

1) What if the attacking team scores moments after the official is unconcious. Does it count?

That call would come from the AR in that half of the field.

2) If the official is "unfit" to continue his duty after being attended to, can the FO or the assistant refs overrule him and take over as head official?

The ARs can never overrule a CR. ARs offer opinions only.

The MLS will have rules governing this type of situation and these are what will be followed. When you are good enough to run a MLS game you are good enough to know whether you can continue or not - it is hard to judge fouls when you can't tell which instance of number eight actually made the tackle :D

[billf]

I don't think this is an embarrassing situation at all. Players get hurt and so will, from time to time, the referee. In many games, the referee is running more than the players so there are ample opportunities for an injury to take place. I saw, I think, Steve Bennet leave and EPL game a year or two ago and Ali Saheli left a US Open Cup game this year with an injury. At the region 1 youth championships a few years ago, the referee passed out from heat exhaustion during a u-14 boys semi-final and the AR on the bench side took over. I had the misfortune of turning my right ankle, severely spraining it during the first minute of a W-League match this past summer. It happens in just about every sport too. It's not an ideal situation, but it is something that I started talking about during my pregame last winter when I went through a bout of cold and sports induced asthma while I was working with my doctor to find a set of meds that would help.

[refmike]

Speaking of this, did you guys hear about the womens final in the olympics? the center referee couldnt come out for the overtime and they had to finish with a differant center!!! Pretty embarrasing!

Not only was this not "embarrasing" it was a demonstration that the system works. The 4th official was standing on the sideline the entire first half so knows the style of the players, who has gotten cautions, where retaliations might occur, etc. The original CR took over as forth after some rest and recovery so even that position was preserved.

The embarrisment was that no one told the announcers what was happening while the refs were discussing how to coordinate the switch-over and I am sure the new CR was giving instructions to the ARs to cover any of her style changes. The lack of communication was confusing to the spectators but the referee change was the right thing to do.

[Gary V]

There were differing reports about what happened to the ref in the Olympics. One was that she had pulled a muscle, another that she was dehydrated. Either way, I'll bet she was hoping to continue and finish the game. When the game went to overtime, she realized she couldn't make it for another half hour, and relinquished the position.

I had a U14 game once where I pulled a muscle with about 6-8 minutes to go. I thought it would be better for me to limp through rather than use one of the AR's. I evidently did miss a corner/goal kick call when I was about 40 yards away because I was moving too slowly.

What should never happen is for the ref to change positions with one of the AR's. If the ref is too incapacitated to continue, she can't do a good job at AR either. Get a club line to finish out the game (in locales where no 4th is used, and there is no other referee available.)

[ussoccr]

FYI: I also saw this happen in a U16 match at the USYSA National Championships this past July. In this case, the referee became visibly ill (vomiting) with 5 minutes remaining following the scoring of a goal. AR1 moved in to the middle, 4th took AR1s spot and the game continued and finished without a 4th as the referee was receiving attention from the medical staff. The referee in this match made the correct decision in coming off, and the rest of the crew seemed to have been prepared for this type of situation. It all appeared to come off as smoothly as possible, given the unfortunate illness of the referee. It's one of those things that is rarely discussed in pre-game and always should be.

[whitehound]

There were differing reports about what happened to the ref in the Olympics. One was that she had pulled a muscle, another that she was dehydrated. Either way, I'll bet she was hoping to continue and finish the game. When the game went to overtime, she realized she couldn't make it for another half hour, and relinquished the position.

I had a U14 game once where I pulled a muscle with about 6-8 minutes to go. I thought it would be better for me to limp through rather than use one of the AR's. I evidently did miss a corner/goal kick call when I was about 40 yards away because I was moving too slowly.

What should never happen is for the ref to change positions with one of the AR's. If the ref is too incapacitated to continue, she can't do a good job at AR either. Get a club line to finish out the game (in locales where no 4th is used, and there is no other referee available.)
Let me be more clear. If she was hurt that was one thing but what I had heard was that she was dehydrated which is not hurt it is OUT OF SHAPE and by association not qualified to be in the middle of a olympic final. I got hit and dislocated my shoulder as a referee in a game and of course I didnt finish. But if she was "dehydrated" then we have something else. I remember a video they showed at a recert class I attended 2 years ago from the previous womens world cup where they showed SFP after SFP go unpunished by underqulified referees who shouldnt be there. If you cant run a SINGLE frickin match in a day without muscle cramps or fatigue then you shoudlnt be out there.

[pasoccerdave]

Let me be more clear. If she was hurt that was one thing but what I had heard was that she was dehydrated which is not hurt it is OUT OF SHAPE and by association not qualified to be in the middle of a olympic final.

That's a fairly harsh statement. Is that truly the reason? By all accounts, Greece's weather was horrid. Would you make the same statement about Eddie Pope, who has shown a propensity for cramping late in games?

[billf]

Even the most fit of us are going to run into a time where we end up dehydrated or fatigued due to the weather, illness, or some other event that we have little to no control over. It even happens to top athletes, so I don't see the shame in this at all. The important thing is that she realized what was happening and was smart enough to step aside for the good of the game.

[Statesman]

Well, the problem is that dehydration is very easily prevented if it is anticipated in advance. Continually hydrating the week up to the game and replenishing during the game is all that is really required. It seems to me that if the referee was dehydrated that proper care was not taken in preparation for the game. For a FIFA referee, or any referee really, it should not be seen as acceptable. I don't buy the heat argument -- I myself have done four games in a day of 105+ heat, and although it is very hot your body can certainly handle it through sweat. The key was simply to drink literally gallons of water leading up, and quite a bit of gatorade during the event. Dehydration is a lack of preparation from my perspective.

[MetroFever]

I watched that Olympic final with my co-workers and remembered commenting that she looked a little more "chubby" than most of the officials (man or woman) that I've seen. Despite the heat and humidity on that day, I am not surprised that she was unable to complete the match.

[whitehound]

That's a fairly harsh statement. Is that truly the reason? By all accounts, Greece's weather was horrid. Would you make the same statement about Eddie Pope, who has shown a propensity for cramping late in games?No I wouldnt.....As a DC fan from april 19th 1996 to present you KNOW I cant criticize a founding member. But lets not compare apples and oranges. When was the last time you did a single and backed out before finishing? I know it gets hot in PA too........I can tell you that if I EVER get a chance to do an olympics or world cup(hey we can all dream!) I am pretty sure that I would make fitness a top priority. We are all supposed to be doing that anyway.

[whitehound]

Even the most fit of us are going to run into a time where we end up dehydrated or fatigued due to the weather, illness, or some other event that we have little to no control over. It even happens to top athletes, so I don't see the shame in this at all. The important thing is that she realized what was happening and was smart enough to step aside for the good of the game.Love ya buddy but for the good of the game she should come to the tournament fit. How many other serious referees were passed over so this out of shape person could come?

[NHRef]

Love ya buddy but for the good of the game she should come to the tournament fit. How many other serious referees were passed over so this out of shape person could come?

I seriously doubt she was unfit physically. Read the USSoccer site where kari Seitz does a day by day of her ref jobs in the Olympics, on off days there had training sessions including fitness workouts and tests. A ref can't hydrate during the game and is running non-stop. I would hope she drank tons during halftime however.

I don't think we know the real story and probably never will. Its a game condition, one the rules account for.