The Ref Stop

Middlesbrough vs s Southampton

P

Peter Grove

RefChat Addict
The referee just collided with a Southampton player and stopped play when the ball was running through for a promising Middlesbrough attack.

Surely that's against the laws of the game. It's only a dropped ball if the referee makes contact with the ball - not a player?
 
The Ref Stop
Seen it before, probably falls under spirit of the game. You could argue the referee wouldn't be in a position to make a decision if something happened and they're on the floor or in a tangle with a player. Just got to be careful of the overall picture/situation.
 
wazztie16 said:
Seen it before, probably falls under spirit of the game. You could argue the referee wouldn't be in a position to make a decision if something happened and they're on the floor or in a tangle with a player. Just got to be careful of the overall picture/situation.
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In this case, the referee was neither on the floor nor tangled up and unable to make a decision. There was no valid reason to stop play, as far as I can tell.
 
This is the sort of thing Referees get their knickers in a twist about, the same referees that ignore tons of other Law
Besides, as it's not strictly covered in our Bible, we can act in the SPOG. I learnt a long time ago, this is the right thing to do
 
IFAB radically changed the concept of the referee when it made the ball hitting the ref a reason to (sometimes) stop play. Once that Law is in place, it’s a lot harder to say that a potentially more impactful interference by the referee is not a reason to stop play. (I recall this being discussed when the change was first made.) If we are going to have the ball-ref DB, there should be something done about collisions. Though that one is potentially more complicated, as players could intentionally run into the ref to try to get play stopped. I agree there is nothing in the Laws that support stopping play for the collision. But I’m hardly stressed if a ref decides to do so, either because of the impact on the ref or worry about an injury.
 
Hilly1618 said:
Did Shakespeare write this thread?

Much ado about nothing.
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I half agree. But, especially with VAR, we have moving more and more from the very long era of referee judgment (remember when a fould was defined by ITOOTR?) to a formulaic, checklist way of looking at the Laws. In that changing world, refs simply electing to stop play for a reason not set out in the LOTG is discordant. Though, as I posted above, I’m hardly stressed by it happening.
 
I was watching this… and the Middlesbrough players were rightly furious. I’d support a change in law, but until then, it was wrong in law.
 
Law 8 implcity allows the referee to stop play play whenever they deem necessary and the restart is not a free kick etc.

A dropped ball is the restart when the referee stops play and the Law does not require one of the above restarts.
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I'd say its hardly against the law or make up as you go. But it is a concept applied very inconsistently.
 
wazztie16 said:
Seen it before, probably falls under spirit of the game. You could argue the referee wouldn't be in a position to make a decision if something happened and they're on the floor or in a tangle with a player. Just got to be careful of the overall picture/situation.
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Doesn’t matter. If the referee is incapacitated, play may continue under the supervision of the other match officials until the ball goes out of play.
 
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