A&H

Junior/Youth Wrong in law, right in spirit?

S

SLI39

Well-Known Member
U14 Purples vs. Reds
Reds are leading 3-0 midway through the second half, but home team a bit aggrieved at a few of my decisions. Nobody has overstepped the mark so far and I've defused tension with captains publicly as well as having quiet words.
Defensive free kick for home team awarded after foul on goalkeeper; it's taken very quickly with several players still in the box and falls to a red attacker. I blow up and explain I want a retake.
The away manager calls across, not aggressively, asking why I didn't play advantage. Even though he expressed it wrong, to his credit he was correct in law about the distinction between goal kicks and free kicks in these quick scenarios.
I realised I'd shot myself in the foot with my explanation about waiting for players to leave PA and just said we could agree to disagree. He laughed and said 'it's the rule'. Obviously he thought he'd got one over on me.
However, it made me wonder: can the referee's prerogative override that law ('shall allow play to continue')? With match temperature a bit unstable, there was no way I was going to allow more controversy at expense of home team with reds 3-0 up.
In the end, home team wanted to swap goalkeepers, so that could have been my excuse.
 
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The Referee Store
Laws can be bent, not broken.
What I'm unclear on - did the ball leave the PA before being touched? If not then this is simple. Was never in play.
If it DID leave the PA, then we need to consider this like a quick free kick (in fact, the additional advise in the back of the LOTG used to, if they don't anymore, address this specific scenario as follows). Like a quick free kick, the attacking team is considered to have basically accepted the position of the players. They had the chance to have the distance enforced but chose to resume play instead - so it's game on. In that case you're not going to pull play back because it didn't work out for them (obviously an opponent moving to block the kick is a little different), so it's the same here. Opponents in the PA but the kick is taken quickly? the defending team have accepted the position of the opponents and all the risk that comes with it.

Sounds like play should have resumed here, assuming the ball left the PA.
 
Ah, yes, apologies for omitting the crucial detail. The issue was that it did leave the PA unchallenged and I still brought it back. Happy to accept I erred here and will remember for next time. I suppose 'moving ball' could be grounds for a retake, but it's probably better just to accept this law will make you unpopular.
 
Wasn't it stopping play that made you unpopular here?
Most people wouldn't even be aware that there's a requirement for the opposing team to be out of the PA, so I don't think you really have any risk of harming your match control by allowing play to continue.
 
CapnBloodbeard said:
Wasn't it stopping play that made you unpopular here?
Most people wouldn't even be aware that there's a requirement for the opposing team to be out of the PA, so I don't think you really have any risk of harming your match control by allowing play to continue.
Click to expand...

Yes, you're right, of course. In retrospect, I definitely should have played on as per the law. It was the home team's decision to play quickly. I guess I thought nobody will realise the mistake, so it's pragmatic, and if this ends up in the net, the home team are going to fly off the handle. You should only deal with what is in front of you, and as you say, it was actually neglecting the law that put me in a spot of bother.
 
I agree with @CapnBloodbeard on this. I think your decision was against the law and the spirit of the game. I take it you would have allowed play to continue if the kick went to a team mate. I think you can see the point .

We are to be fair to both teams and sometimes we have to make decisions that are not going to be popular or easy to sell. It seems that you covered for one team's mistake because it was the easier decision to make.

I will draw comparison to forcing a CFK every time a team gets a free kick near the PA. Its the easier option but not always fair to the attacking team.

You did well dealing with the away manager though :)
 
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