Into the Book - Laws of The Game - Law 5
This series by CRO will dive into the IFAB Laws of The Game to cover all 17 Laws that IFAB has for soccer. We’re going to cover them in a way that simplifies them and gives you a chance to learn the laws and what we find important in each Law. While we expect referees to read through the full laws we know that sometimes understanding them and how to apply them on your own is difficult. We will tell go through how to implement certain parts of the Laws and where certain Laws can be adapted to for local Youth and Adult Leagues and Events. We hope this series helps you easily learn the Laws one week at a time while we take a deep dive Into The Book with us.
Law 5 - The Referee
Law 5 tells us the Referee will be made to the best of the referee’s ability and according to the Laws of the Game and the ‘Spirit of the game’. The decisions of the referee regarding facts of the game are final and the decisions of the referee, and all match officials must be respected.
Responsibilities of the Referee
Enforce the Laws of the Game
work with other Match Officials
Acts as time keeper
Keeps a record of the Match and provides a Match Report
Advantage
The Referee may allow play to continue when an offense occurs and the non-offending team will benefit from the advantage, and penalizes the offense if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time or within a few seconds
Injuries
Allow play to continue if the player is only slightly injured
Stop play if a player is seriously injured. An injured player must leave the field and may return once play has started, once they have permission of the referee, as long as they were not substituted for. They must enter from the touchline unless the ball is out of play, they may enter from any point.
Exceptions to leaving the field
Player is a Goal Keeper
A Goal Keeper and outfield player collided and both need attention
Players from the same team need attention
The player is injured because of a tackle that resulted in a Caution
The injured player will be taking a Penalty Kick
Misconduct
If the referee has authorized the doctors and/or stretcher bearers to enter the field of play, the player must leave on a stretcher or on foot. A player who does not comply must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour
Can the Referee Change a decision?
Yes, as long as play has not restarted. Once the game has been restarted or the half ended, the referee may not change the decision.
What if the referee missed a Caution or Red Card that their assistant Referee saw?
A disciplinary sanction may only be issued after play has restarted if another match official had identified and attempted to communicate the offence to the referee before play restarted; the restart associated with the sanction does not apply.
Taking Disciplinary Action
May take disciplinary action when they enter the field of play for the pre-match inspection until leaving the field of play after the match ends
If two offenses happen at the same time the referee must punish the more serious offense taking into account misconduct, restart, physical severity and tactical impact, when more than one offense occurs at the same time
Outside Interference
The Referee stops play if
Lighting is inadequate
an outside person blows a whistle that interferes with paly
An object, Animal or spectator enters the field if it interferes with play.
Liability of a Match Official
The Referee or other match officials are not held liable for
Any kind of injury suffered by a player, official or spectator
Any damage to property of any kind
Any other loss suffered by any individual, club, company, association or other body, which is due or which may be due to any decision taken under the terms of the Laws of the Game or in respect of the normal procedures required to hold, play and control a match
What makes this important?
When things go wrong in a match people look for a person who is responsible. This is why we do our prematch inspections to ensure field safety, only allow rostered players and coaches in the technical area and stop the game when the environment is unsafe (Thunderstorms and other bad weather). Remember, when you encounter an unsafe situation such as a unsecured goal, storms or un-rostered coaches do what you know is right by the Laws of the Game and event / league rules. Someone may say “can we do it this time” or “It’s okay, we only have 5 minutes left” but you’re the referee and responsible for player safety.
Remember, the Laws of the Game are detailed and have much more information than we have put into this section. We put this here so referees can get a quick view of what we see as the highlights of the Law. We recommend referees fully review the LOTG to know the them best - https://www.theifab.com/