A&H

Abandoning for injury - How long?

JH

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Not had it happen yet but if there is a serious injury in one of your games, how long should you reasonably wait (for an ambulance etc) before deciding to abandon?
 
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Depends on so many factors it is impossible to say. If it happens in August the players won't get cold so you can give it longer, if it happens in January you risk further injuries if you leave it too long. You'll generally have a bit of time to play with on a Saturday, and especially on a Sunday morning, but if the same thing happens midweek you are restricted by light and if under lights how long can they stay on for.
 
Had one a few seasons back,waited 12 minutes then called it off. ( broken leg ) , ambulance arrived nearly an hour after the injury. Players didn’t really want to play after. Made it easy for me tbh.
All I can say, personally if the injury is serious and it’ll take time for treatments (ambulance) just call it off.
 
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Once waited 45 minutes for an injured player to be taken from the pitch by ambulance, both teams wanted to finish the last 15/20 minutes. Think it was late September and a pleasant afternoon. I agreed but only If they all warmed up again........
 
Great question and not one I ever had the chance to be faced with, I faced lots of semi-serious injuries, lots of hobbles off to hospital, bumps, sprains, all the usual stuff. One abandonment, but for a brawl, isn't the same I suppose but I don't think there is an wrong answer here. Some may want to play on, some may be willing to wait, its a tough call... I once played over 15 minutes injury in both halves of one game, I thought about asking for some overtime!!
 
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Not had it happen yet but if there is a serious injury in one of your games, how long should you reasonably wait (for an ambulance etc) before deciding to abandon?

There are different factors that need to be considered:

Physical Factors - What time of day is it? What time of year is it? What time will it get dark? What is the temperature?

A 2pm kick off Saturday afternoon game with no floodlights in a heavily overcast mid December means that your practical environmental window for waiting is going to be a whole lot less than a sunny Sunday morning game in mid April.

Emotional Factors - Its possible that one or neither sets of players will actually want to continue if the injury is serious enough. You have to be sensitive to that, whilst also being aware of the fact that a team might use it as an excuse to try to get the match replayed for any number of reasons.

Unknown Factors - If an ambulance has been called, you really don't have any idea as to how long its going to take to get there, though football injuries (i.e. broken leg) are typically seen as a lower priority, unless its a serious head injury. Its not unreasonable to be expecting to wait a minimum of 40 minutes for an ambulance to arrive, but it could be a whole lot longer. Once the ambulance gets there, they will treat and stabilise the player in situ, and again, you don't have any real idea as to whether thats going to take 5 or 45 minutes.

Common Sense Factors - If you are refereeing at grassroots level, think would it be reasonable to expect players to hang around for an additional 60-90 minutes to finish a game, or would it make more sense to call it a day?
 
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Not had it happen yet but if there is a serious injury in one of your games, how long should you reasonably wait (for an ambulance etc) before deciding to abandon?

Serious injury is not a correct reason for abandonment. Last month I was at a match with 2 separate ambulances - first delay 35 mins; second 45 mins. The weather was fine and warm and no doubts about the light, so no reason to abandon. It was a 2.00 kick-off, and finished at 5.05.

As it was a County Cup match, if abandoned then the replay would have been next Saturday automatically. All players realised they had to finish the match, so game went to its rightful conclusion.

Remember, as a referee, you will have to report the reason for an abandonment to the league / FA. Also, for the referees who do it for the money, it is strictly half fee! :smoke: - as no team is at fault.
 
Also, for the referees who do it for the money, it is strictly half fee! :smoke: - as no team is at fault.
I thought half-fee only applied if the game isn't started? Surely half-fee can't apply if the game has started because where is the cut-off point? If you get to 70 minutes and abandon, surely you're not expected to receive half-fee. 75 minutes? 80?
 
I thought half-fee only applied if the game isn't started? Surely half-fee can't apply if the game has started because where is the cut-off point? If you get to 70 minutes and abandon, surely you're not expected to receive half-fee. 75 minutes? 80?

You're correct. Every league has a set of "rules" regarding what happens in these instances, eg Home team cancels match and doesn't tell referee, referee inspects pitch on arrival and deems it unfit for play etc.

If the ref actually turns up and the match is not played for any reason then it's usually half fee. If that match kicks off and the ref needs to abandon for any reason, even after 30 seconds, that match fee is still his in full.
 
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Remember, as a referee, you will have to report the reason for an abandonment to the league / FA. Also, for the referees who do it for the money, it is strictly half fee! :smoke: - as no team is at fault.

That only applies if the game doesn't take place .... ;) :cool:
 
On my leagues it's half fee if the game is called off with no club in default (weather, pitch conditions etc) or full fee if a club is in default (not enough players etc). But certainly full fee if we have already kicked-off.
 
You put on your human head and go, ok, whats for the best here

You weigh up what you see in front of you, if 10 of the team who have their mate are doubled up in tears, then weigh it up

if its a case of, ok, wait till ambulance then see how things are, thats fine too

take a feeling for whats going on and do the adult thing


there is no right and wrong on compassion and common sense
 
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