Apologies if this has been discussed before, but I couldn't find anything in Search on the subject. What is the typical action taken by most leagues if a game has to be abandoned due to weather or failure of lights for a night game? We had that situation occur in one of our adult coed leagues, where one team was winning by 3 goals in the 60th minute over another which only had 7 players, so there was really no hope of them catching up. At that point, the lights failed, and the referee had to abandon the match. The losing team is demanding a full replay (which they of course want to start at 0-0 in the first minute, with a full roster of players). I've just never seen what is typically done when something like this happens. Thanks in advance for any expertise on this.
I'd tell the other team to go jump off a cliff. It has been my experience, and of course EVERY league is different usually, that if you make it through the first half, the game will count.
RF is right that most leagues count a game after the second half starts. However, in my experience that applies to USYSA-advised youth games. Many adult leagues play non-sanctioned games to save money on officials and assoction fees. So they might have totally different rules. It (poverty) probably shouldn't be the case in the situation described here, since the league can afford to pay for a lighted field.
You need to post your question to the "League Administration" forum. Referees only report results and facts associated with the match. It is up to the league how they will handle it. Your best bet is to contact your league office. They may already have a written policy that will answer your question. If not, they should at least be able to tell you how they will make their decision.
As Chubby said, the ref doesn't make the determination on the result of the game, only that it must be stopped. In the absence of any other rules, the correct (per FIFA) resolution is to replay the game in its entirety. This applies whether the cause is benign (weather, lights) or caused by a team (not enough players to continue, poor behavior, etc). Many leagues have rules that at a certain point in the game the results become official - typically halftime, 2/3's of full time, or "X" minutes into the second half. So if the ref stops play for a storm, he has to be aware of and record what time the event occurred. For termination/abandonment because of a team, leagues generally have an automatic forfeit rule, or have some kind of board set up to make a decision. For example, our association refers the matter to the Board, but if it must be decided before the next Board meeting, the President and Division Manager are authorized to make a decision on the outcome.
What's sad is that I am the league administration! (Well, part of it). We have an ambiguous rule that was put in place before I came into the league, that isn't really clear. More than anything, I was curious about what kind of rule the leagues you deal with tend to have in place, because I'd like to change our rule, if possible to some "standard" that is used everywhere else. I've checked the regulations for MLS, Premier League, La Liga, and came up empty. I know this isn't exactly a ref question, but I figured if anybody knew about this stuff on BigSoccer, it would be referees.
According to Law 7, an abandoned match is to be replayed unless the tournament/league rules specify otherwise. So, hopefully for your situation the rules specify otherwise or you would be bound to replay the game per FIFA, which USSF abides by. Else you would risk the repercussions of not following the LOTG, which are rather unpleasant.
It doesn't work that way, Flunkie. Leagues just can't rewrite rules on the fly because a situation comes up where the rules seem wrong. You apply the rule that was in effect at the time of the incident, then modify the rule afterward for any future incidents.
Usually, the league will have a competition rule to set this out in advance. A league I referee in says all matches not completed are replayed in full. There was one match I worked during my first year where I had no choice but to abandon the match for weather. The team up 3-0 lost the replay and the league by one point. Others say that if the second half starts, the match is official. Since it isn't up to the referee, it's hard to answer your question. I'd be careful about what you do here. If there is no rule in place and the team appeals a decision to not replay to the state, they could be successful by pointing to the laws which state a match must be played with two equal halves. This clearly wasn't the case here. It's up to you what to do, but I would pass a league policy during the off season stating how this will be handled in the future to avoid confusion.
1. Do you have to play at least 70 mins for the result to stand? 2. If a team has 7 or less players shouldn't the game have been abandoned anyway?
1. Depends on the league's rules. This isn't defined by the laws. 2. The recommendation from Fifa is that a match not continue if one team drops below seven players, so seven players in a team is all you need unless your national association says otherwise.
Our youth leagues and High Schools rules state that any game where the second half has started will be declared complete if weather or light conditions make continuation impossible (or unsafe). I think high school only requires that the first half be played (no second half restart needed).