I have a question. Towards the end of a game if one team is making a push to tie, I have noticed that some refs try to speed things by doing things they wouldn't normally do if it was in the middle of the game, even if the players are moving at the same pace as they would during a game: -having the 4th official/coach introduce a spare ball on the field if a ball goes well out of play, when players/ballboys have been chasing the single ball all game long. -telling players on the leading team to hurry up as they retreive balls (even if they are proceeding as they have all game long) -making players hurry (even threatening a caution) when they come up from defensive positions for re-starts in the attacking third) -enforcing the 6 second goalkeeper rule more closely. I'm sure you refs can think of a few more things that are done to speed the game at the end. Does this seem fair to you? To me, it seems like the official is changing how he/she calls the game to give one team a greater chance to tie. I like it when I'm behind and it frustrates me when I'm ahead. Seems strange either way though, to become more sensitive to the benefit of one team over another. Thanks.
There's a little thing called Gamesmanship. The coach and players of the winning team use delaying tactics to keep the other team from tying the game in the final minutes. Does that seem fair to you? The players are there to play for the full 90 minutes and deserve the game to keep going even towards the end. Referees don't try to speed things up, we try to keep things from slowing down. It's better to holler at players to keep moving, hurry up, etc than to start pulling yellow cards. If they don't listen, then we can card them. Either way the referee will add time for the delay tactics and any additional cards, but all the waiting around is enough to kill momentum. THAT isn't fair. In the middle of the game, momentum keeps going. There are no delay tactics. When the teams change their behavior, so must the referee.
I see this as not so much as calling the game differently, but in enforcing the Laws when it matters. No one cares if time is wasted in the first 10 minutes of a game - well, as long as they don't get ridiculous about it. But in the final 10 minutes, it may have crossed the line where it is no longer trifling to the game situation. In that case yes, I am going to enforce time more strictly. That doesn't necessarily mean I'm cautioning all over the place. But I will be adding on time when a team sitting on a lead starts to slow things down, and I'll let them know about it. "Hey, guys, the longer you take to get the ball in play, the longer we're going to be here." When they see their delay tactics will have no effect, they generally are smart enough to give it up. I don't expect the goalkeeper to sprint after a ball that has just gone out for a goal kick. But neither do I expect that he would stop for lunch before retrieving the ball. If the ball is in the bushes and it looks like he can't find it, I'll call for another ball. Another example of attempted timewasting is when a team changes their subbing patterns. They may have been substituting 3-4 at a time, about 10-15 minutes apart for the first 3/4 of the game. Now they suddenly change to requesting one sub at a time, every opportunity they get. Hey, it doesn't take me too long to figure that one out! After about the third one, I'll tell the coach, "OK, make the sub, but I am adding on time."
Yes they do Yes most referees do try to speed up the game at the end of a match. And it is not consistent. Is that fair to the team with the lead? No, but referees do it all the time. Referees should not engage in Gamesmanship. Referees shouldn't try to speed up the game to the advantage of one team over the other but they regularly do. Kind of like not blowing the whistle when the game is over because one team still has a chance to score, is that fair to the team defending? No, but it is a regular practice.
The adding a ball senario is blatantly wrong if not carried through since the beginning of the match. The hurry up syndrome in retriving balls is a real concern in matches where added time affect not only the match occuring but the next match on the same field. Still a reassurance that time is added sets the tone. Only in matches where adding time is a real concern would I get crabby with LETS GO people unless the dragging of the feet was tactically so obvious I would be forced to say something. Keeper holding the ball should not suddenly go from an 7 to 9 second tolerance to a 6.001 tolerance. The one thing many referees do that I feel is NOT allowed is to deny legal substitutuions near the end of the match by the team winning thinking it tactically done to stall the match. As we can add time and the law allows subs if they are legal in their application we have no right to deny one. I will signal to a coach we have less than 30 seconds so are you sure but I never stop a substitution unless it is not done correctly. I have found in cases when players ask every thirty seconds how much time there is, some frenzied responses by the player behind trying to move faster and tactically the player ahead making no effort to move faster if anything a bit more slowly and deliberately. I simply add time and make it known I am doing so to calm the rush rush team and make it apparant to the other slow and easy team that there is no value to fail to adhere to the spirit of the laws and the essence of fairplay. One team is come on ref they are wasting time and the other team is "Come on ref end the match!" I prefer personally to say nothing unless it is obvious to me that in fact the actions are inciting the emotional level of the match or so blatantly stupid as to say please show me a card. A referee who has a good match can lose or have their efforts undone by losing focus in the final few minutes. My motto relax I got the time so no worries.
I think there may be useful discussion still to come. Red Star and Statesman, let's keep this on a professional level. I know as a coach, that sometimes with a one goal lead that last 5-10 minutes can take forever. Most refs I work with and have experienced usually try to be fair about how much added time and and how much stalling is appropriate. I don't think I've noticed this as a problem in professional games. However, we can agree to disagree, BUT "most" referees is a gross exaggeration.
I really don't speed play up near the end of the match. If things get bad enough where the winning team is obviously wasting time, I'll tack on some time to make up for it. However, I can't say I change things from during the game. If the winning team wants to take its time, so be it, as long as it is within reason. If the ball goes way out of play (but not intentionally), I guess the losing team better run after it.
MODERATOR'S Note I have moved several posts out of this forum, that were increasingly unprofessional. My original plan was to edit them and leave them here. HOWEVER, I can't easily do that. Please continue to post in a professional manner. THANKS.
One note about adding time to adjust for stalling instead of voice propting the team to huury up. I was advised by an older ref once to decide how much stopage time I would add when there was at least 5-10 minutes left in the game. That way I could be certain I was not unintentionally giving either team an advantage. The obvious exception to this would be for an injury. Given this advice I try to voice prompt team that I feal are tactically trying to delay the game rather than just add time. Grizz's post is making me reconsider this practice however. On a sidenote what would you do in tournaments which at leat the ones in my area explicitly forbid adding stoppage time in their rule modifications?
illegal tournament adaptation HeadHunter This was discussed in depth a while back but then what subject has not at some time? FIFA allowable rule changes are fairly basic but given the shortage of fields, number of daylight hours, scheduals and need to make money or at least not lose any this illegal change for running time creates or compounds this time problem considerably. Admittedly I do not participate in tournaments where this is an issue. As I often schedual I allow sufficent time for a 15 minute late start and a 15 minute added time possibility. If you are going and starting as if by a horn that starts and ends all matches, the referee to be effective must deal with the entire game as if it were the last five minutes with all play quick and sharp. In fact as this is a rule change specific to the tournament it should be addressed specifically to the teams in the pregame by the referee as well as be included in tournament literature WITH punishment spelled out for teams that try to use this to advantage. A referee could tell both teams from the get go it is a hurry up offence on either side and if you drag the feet or diddle around you can expect to be dealt with. Create the good mechanics on the subs, tell ALL to hustle to the ball, perhaps have additional balls at the start as well as ball retreiver personal stationed around the pitch. Ensure adequate personal to deal with injuries are present so a youth can be stretchered off if need be. Actually these are good ideas at any tournament even when you can add time as YOU should be able to do.
Party pooper. There was nothing inappropriate in my now deleted post. I dissented but I guess that dissent is not allowed. NO "most" referees is not a gross exaggeration. I think "most" of them simply get caught up in the excitement. Of course they want to be fair, I really don't think that I have ever seen a match in which an official conciously intended to be unfair. Ideas and application of what is fair may however frequently be bizarre at best. Such as "lets speed up play here at the end because it is really exciting". The best approach in my opinion is simply to add time if you feel someone isn't moving fast enough for your liking. However I continue to believe that it is wrong to call the last five minutes (plus added time) of the game differently than the first 85 minutes.
Thanks for the replies. Statesman, I agree with you that gamesmanship should be dealt with. And fortunately soccer has stoppage time, which is an excellent mechanism for dealing with it. I was more curious about the times when enforcement is changed when the players are acting as they have all game. I think Red Star brings up an interesting point, that inexperienced/weaker officials (I'm not going to touch the some/most argument) can get caught up with the momentum of a team trying to come back. Now that I think about it, the excellent officials I have witnessed as a player or a coach have not changed their application of the rules at the end of the game. Maybe referees changing at the end of the game--not to deal with time wasting but to get more time in open play--is due to getting caught up in the momentum of the game, which I imagine is hard to learn not to do.
I came into this discussion late but after having read all the previous posts I would say that no referee is a wall. The pace and situations in a game constantly change and you have to change with them. What may apply at the 5 minute mark doesn't always apply at the 80 minute mark. Read the players, coaches and the tone of the game. If the game is being played at a frantic pace and both teams are still competing for every ball then try to minimise the amount of dead ball time. If one team has given up in a cup game because they are five goals behind with two minutes to go then dead ball time is less of an issue and you can just look like an uptight prat barking at players to speed it up. If the game is tight and one team is trying to maximise the amount of dead ball time then the LOTG give you the power to deal with it. If you are really worried about it then wear two watches. Have the first watch just counting down the 45 minutes and stop and start the other one as you feel you need to. The 45 minutes is up when the second watch says it is. The first watch is there to tell you the time if you forget to restart the second watch at any point. Really simple but very effective. I find this really useful when you have a coach with two stopwatches doing the same thing on the touchline. Crowdie
Re: Yes they do I take personal exception to this as, I'd imagine, most referees will. I know I don't speed up the game or add time so a team can score and I doubt many engage in this practice. I have in my mind how much time is added and when it's over, that's it.
I'm all for speeding the game up when it matters. Why? Because it's still 90 minutes. Nobody is saying that the team with the lead can't score again. If it was somehow giving time to one team but not the other, that'd be different, but what is being described is a technique that keeps referees out of trouble. Remember, a referee can be sanctioned for not following the rules, ie, allowing time wasting. A referee cannot be sanctioned for making certain the play gets restarted quickly. Should the ref be doing this all game? Perhaps so. But what is a trifling delay on the throw in in minute 4 is a yellow cardable offense in minute 90. The game's situation has made the call less trifling. That's not the fault of the referee. If you wish your team to not face this "problem", simply get a two goal lead Jarrod
Re: Re: Yes they do Is it your practice to blow your whistle and end the game at the end of added time without regard to where the ball is or what is going on at the time. Would you blow to end the game when a team is down a goal and rushing to take a corner kick? End a game when the ball is in flight toward the goal? Of course not, but that doesn't make it fair to the team defending. Be careful about using the word m**t, your posts may get deleted.
Re: Re: Re: Yes they do Early in my career, I used a stop watch with a fairly loud alarm. I blew the whistle as shot was on the way to the goal - a slow ball along the ground with eyes for the corner of the goal. Ever since, I use a less obvious clock, and may wait up to 5 seconds for a play to finish. I have also blown my whistle just before or immediately after the taking of a corner kick (saw the latter in an international game). Each referee finds their own timing for end of the half/game that they are comfortable with and find fair. As a coach and player, I never felt that I was cheated by the ref for clock management. The only time I try to speed up a game is when I sense the team in the lead delaying the game. I urge, add time, and that works for me.
Re: Re: Re: Yes they do I too usually give a few seconds for the play to finish up. There is a reason we don't have a scoreboard with a buzzer to signal the end of the half. Shoot, the only time I remember being yelled at by a coach/players for clock management was when I ended a tournament match that was a one goal game with the attacking team controlling the ball near the corner flag (not really pressing the attack). The coach wanted to know why we didn't wait for the defending team to clear the ball! Quite amusing.