A&H

Open Age Do you abandon this match?

T

Trip

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Level 5 Referee
Cup semi final, Orange vs Blue. Orange are 4-2 up with 2 minutes left. Blue player goes down screaming loud and long. He has no obvious injury but passes out. An ambulance is called. Advice is not to move him until the paramedics arrive.

It's 15.55 when the injury occurs. The pitch is 4G with floodlights so light is not an issue. It's booked until 16.30 and by 16.10 a youth training outfit has arrived waiting their turn. It looks like some of the away (blue) team are drifting off to the changing rooms and then we hear that the ambulance is on site.

I told both teams that if the injured player is removed before 16.28 we will play the remaining two minutes. Any team unable to field 7 players at that point will cause abandonment and likely forfeit the match. The Blue team say they don't want to continue, heads not right, worried about their teammate, etc etc.

What happens is that the injured player is removed at exactly 16.30. By this time the home (Orange) team have spoken to the youth training outfit who have generously agreed to allow us to play the remaining two minutes.

What do you do?
 
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Trip said:
Cup semi final, Orange vs Blue. Orange are 4-2 up with 2 minutes left. Blue player goes down screaming loud and long. He has no obvious injury but passes out. An ambulance is called. Advice is not to move him until the paramedics arrive.

It's 15.55 when the injury occurs. The pitch is 4G with floodlights so light is not an issue. It's booked until 16.30 and by 16.10 a youth training outfit has arrived waiting their turn. It looks like some of the away (blue) team are drifting off to the changing rooms and then we hear that the ambulance is on site.

I told both teams that if the injured player is removed before 16.28 we will play the remaining two minutes. Any team unable to field 7 players at that point will cause abandonment and likely forfeit the match. The Blue team say they don't want to continue, heads not right, worried about their teammate, etc etc.

What happens is that the injured player is removed at exactly 16.30. By this time the home (Orange) team have spoken to the youth training outfit who have generously agreed to allow us to play the remaining two minutes.

What do you do?
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Abandon the game
 
Trip said:
Cup semi final, Orange vs Blue. Orange are 4-2 up with 2 minutes left. Blue player goes down screaming loud and long. He has no obvious injury but passes out. An ambulance is called. Advice is not to move him until the paramedics arrive.

It's 15.55 when the injury occurs. The pitch is 4G with floodlights so light is not an issue. It's booked until 16.30 and by 16.10 a youth training outfit has arrived waiting their turn. It looks like some of the away (blue) team are drifting off to the changing rooms and then we hear that the ambulance is on site.

I told both teams that if the injured player is removed before 16.28 we will play the remaining two minutes. Any team unable to field 7 players at that point will cause abandonment and likely forfeit the match. The Blue team say they don't want to continue, heads not right, worried about their teammate, etc etc.

What happens is that the injured player is removed at exactly 16.30. By this time the home (Orange) team have spoken to the youth training outfit who have generously agreed to allow us to play the remaining two minutes.

What do you do?
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Wow. Having given the 16:28 deadline, abandon.

Great story, is it true?
 
I'd abandon easily as the result stands after 70 minutes in my county. If the team with the injured player isn't up for it, I don't see the point in dragging it out, and Orange have pretty much won...
 
I'd abandon.

35 minutes is a long break, and it is completely understandable that the away team would be worried about their team mate who ended up unconscious.
 
Abandon after that length of delay, especially when there are issues with how long the pitch would be available for.
 
RobOda said:
I'd abandon easily as the result stands after 70 minutes in my county. If the team with the injured player isn't up for it, I don't see the point in dragging it out, and Orange have pretty much won...
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Apparently in another competition the away team were having to reply a match that was abandoned with 5 minutes to go when they were 6-1 up. On that occasion the match was abandoned by the ref because a fight broke out between the two teams (which given this team I can well believe). I'll be interested to see what happens.
 
As soon as an ambulance is called I would call time on the game. Submit a report to the relevant people stating the facts and leave it up to them to decide.

Main focus has to be on the injured player so it is better for them to have less people around them
 
I can see the point @Trip may be making. If this game (or the game at 6-1) is replayed, even if this is a genuine injury, wouldn't it encourage cheating and faking serious injury to avoid a loss.

I would make it clear I am 'suspending' the game and send a report to the competition as such. It is up to them what to do but I have done my part on being considerate as well as fair.
 
At my level I don't think faking a serious injury in order to stop a match you're winning is ever going to be a problem. I've been refereeing for eight years and this is the third time I've called an ambulance and only the first time the nature of the serious injury (eg. a break) is not obvious.

However I was once playing in a match that was abandoned at half time because opposition players threatened the referee. We were winning 3-0. I understand that the league were seriously considering asking us to replay it until we pointed out that anyone losing at halftime might conclude that threaten the ref to get the score reset was a valid tactic.
 
Trip said:
However I was once playing in a match that was abandoned at half time because opposition players threatened the referee. We were winning 3-0. I understand that the league were seriously considering asking us to replay it until we pointed out that anyone losing at halftime might conclude that threaten the ref to get the score reset was a valid tactic.
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That was a good call. If a match is abandoned because of the conduct of ONE of the teams then the Competition management should be able to let the score stand - and in the Standard Code there is no default time on that so it could be the in 1st minute+
 
afronaut81 said:
That was a good call. If a match is abandoned because of the conduct of ONE of the teams then the Competition management should be able to let the score stand - and in the Standard Code there is no default time on that so it could be the in 1st minute+
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Not let the score stand but forfeit to the team who unduly caused the abandonment. This is part of my grassroots associatiins's by-laws.
 
Either way, it is not our duty or responsibility on the day to decide the score, who wins, forfeits, etc., or to make such judgment to either side. Just report the facts to the competition.
 
In the event of an ambulance being required I think all parties would accept abandonment. However, be aware of competition rules. My local low level semi professional league used to have a rule that on no account were games to be abandoned due to injury and for a while it was enforced rigorously. It was an incredible statement when you consider the many potential scenarios than could have occurred. Thankfully common sense prevailed a few seasons back.
 
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