Something needs to be done about these ball boys. This is ridiculous. I know they are probably asking him if he is all right, but it looks like they are praising him for getting the guy sent off! At a certain point they/the clubs have to be held accountable. What are the players supposed to do if the kid won't give the ball back?
what are they supposed to do? How about appeal to the referee who then deals with the issue with the home team staff...and adds time
Kick or tackle the ball boy. Ok maybe not. Refs need to be super clear that they are adding way more time than was wasted, like walk over to the display board and change it from 4 to 7. That would put a quick end to it.
Any sort of blatant time-wasting action by a ball kid should result in the kid's dismissal by the referee and a significant fine from the league. That doesn't excuse violent conduct from the players, obviously, but clubs do need to be held accountable for the actions of their representatives. Years ago I happened to overhear Rachel Woo, serving as 4th/alternate official, giving instructions to the ball kids at an NCAA game. Curious if the referees are involved at the pro level in any way, but thinking probably not. Too many other responsibilities already.
I know that at Toronto FC games six or seven years ago, the 4O met with the ball kids and a staff liaison to quickly go over expectations. That was under 5 minutes. I don't know if that still occurs now though.
It's expected for NWSL and other professional leagues. Not sure if MLS fourths handle it directly or it's something that the team liaison is just expected to do now since s/he has heard the instructions so many times in the past and/or they are understood. I suspect it is the latter, but I'm not positive. It also just may just come down to individual personalities.
Under the Laws of the Game the referee has no authority to dismiss a ball boy unless they are listed as team officials (and I'm pretty sure that they're not). The most a ref can do at the time, is have a word with the home team about it and make allowance for any time lost. If there is obvious and deliberate time-wasting involved, it should be included in the match report. Hopefully the competition organisers would take action over any blatant pattern of time-wasting.
That's a good point. I'm not sure how they're listed, although in this day and age I guarantee they're listed SOMEWHERE and probably have a waiver on file. The home team knows who they are, but you're right that they're unlikely to be listed as actual team officials. This would be more of a situation where the referee informs the home team that the match cannot continue with the offending party present. There's a legitimate concern for the safety of the kid and the players, IMO.
Under the LOTG, you're technically right regarding an outright dismissal of a ball boy. However, Law 5 gives us the power to stop, suspend or abandon a match for any outside interference. I think it's implicit that you are stopping or suspending the match until such outside interference no longer exists. So if a ball boy has become "outside interference," you're well within your rights to hold up the game and make it clear you are not restarting until the outside interference has been removed.
That's as well may be, but I was responding directly to a post from someone saying he would handle this by dismissing the ball boy - I never suggested there might not be other ways to handle it, just that a referee isn't authorised to send a ball boy off.
That's all well and good, but that doesn't really accomplish anything or curtail future behavior. There is not incentive or real punishment for teams to discourage ball boys from doing this other than fines or point deductions. Sure you dismiss the ball boy, but they they've already slowed/delayed the game and maybe even got an opposing player sent off. They've won. I guess you can "ban" the ball boy from future matches.... Until clubs are fined or points deducted for basically encouraging this or competition authorities bring in "neutral" ball boys this won't stop.