What was probably the simplest
law in football can these days turn into a nightmare for the
referee and all because players want to show a little sporting
behaviour.
Law 8, Start and Restart of
Play says 'A dropped ball is a way of restarting the match
after a temporary stoppage, which becomes necessary for any
reason not mentioned elsewhere in the Laws'. A bit long-winded
perhaps but straightforward.
The usual reason for a stoppage
is injury but sometimes it is due to some form of
interference. The referee drops the ball,' the laws says, 'at
the place where it was located when play was stopped and the
ball is in play when it touches the ground.' Back before the
World Cup in the USA it really was that simple.
Although not essential under
the laws, a couple of players, one from each side, faced one
another and the referee dropped the ball between them. Since
then everyone wants to be sporting and instead of competing
for the dropped ball, they stand aside and allow one player to
kick the ball back to their opponents. Usually they kick it
back to the goalkeeper. Here's where the trouble can
begin.
Let me quote from a Maidenhead
newspaper. "After a stoppage for a head injury, Jamie
Cook of the Magpies (Maidenhead United) struck a dropped ball
from the halfway line. The opposing goalkeeper watched as the
ball flew into the net". A goal you might think,
unfortunate but still a goal. The referee, however, had other
ideas. He cautioned the kicker for unsporting behaviour and
made him retake the drop ball.
The newspaper cutting was sent
to me by David Downs, the Reading FC historian, who answers
your questions on the Royals every Friday in the Evening Post.
David also related a similar incident which he had witnessed
recently. The referee at that game, also ordered the drop ball
to be retaken but his explanation, was that it was because 'he
wasn't ready'.
You may also have read about
the game this season between Yeovil and Plymouth in the first
round of the Coco-Cola Cup. The ball inadvertently finished up
in the Plymouth net direct from a drop ball. In this case the
referee allowed the goal. However, Yeovil manager Gary Johnson
told his players, that from the kick-off they were not to
tackle their opponents who walked the ball down the field and
equalised.
Which of the three referees got
it right? I think it is stretching things a little far for a
referee to say 'I wasn't ready'. If he isn't ready, he
shouldn't drop the ball. Factually, the referee at Yeovil was
the most correct. The law says 'a goal is scored when the
whole of the ball passes the goal line, between the goalposts
and under the cross bar, providing that no infringement of the
Laws has been committed previously by the team scoring the
goal'.
As far as the Yeovil referee
was concerned, there was no offence, and the situation was
saved by Johnson's sportsmanship.
The Maidenhead referee thought
differently. Most referees, including myself, ask the kicker
if he is going to kick the ball back to an opponent. If the
player agrees that is his intention but then instead kicks it
into the goal, many say that they will treat it as unsporting
behaviour. So the Maidenhead referee is not alone. However,
the penalty for unsporting behaviour surely should be an
indirect free kick not re-dropping the ball.
I sympathise with the
sentiments of the first two referees but can three different
answers to the same situation really be for good for the game?
Without wishing to stop any form of sportsmanship, perhaps the
time has come for some guidance from FIFA or the law makers,
the International FA Board. As long as they keep it simple.