The Ref Stop

Whistle blast before 5 second count down.

The Ref Stop
You really should follow this up with the RDO and get him to send a clarification.

Is there a clear opportunity to restart?
Yes
"Let's go then fellas"
No reaction
PEEP
5-4-3-2-1-0
Sounds like you’ve been taking ideas from Sweet with the introduction of Ballroom Blitz and Manfred Mann with 5-4-3-2-1! There has been too much plagiarism going around at the moment! 😂 😂
 
I don't see too many cases where a DR can apply to a TI once we use the 5 second cound. But a good example is if the count is up and they have the ball, you award the TI to the opponents and they deliberately throw the ball (either away or just as a TI).
 
Could have been the same meeting, I was going to say something but didn’t want to rock the boat and cause a scene!

That was wrong information to a room of 90 people!!
I imagine it was the same meeting as me as well, when you've got 4 different associations coming together, there's always going to be a lot of people!
 
If it was at the same meeting I was at the reply was provided by a L2 Referee. I know where L2/RDO were coming from. However, on IFABs Q&A page -

A player appears to take a throw-in but suddenly leaves the ball to a team-mate. What action does the referee take?​

If the team is deliberately delaying the throw-in, the referee may use their whistle and/or voice to indicate that they should hurry up. To start the five-second countdown (which may start without the above cue), the referee blows the whistle, signals with their hand/arm for the throw-in to be taken and counts down the five seconds with a raised hand. If the ball is not in play by the end of the five seconds, the referee awards the throw-in to the opposing team from the same position as the original throw-in.


Law does go on to state: The offending player is cautioned only if they excessively delay the restart after the throw-in has been awarded to the opposing team.
For me it's a bit of common sense too, depending at the level you are at and yes the Laws of the Game should be for all, but VAR isn't implemented on a Sunday morning in the park. But to help myself out if the team have been using the same throwers all match, especially at grass roots they all have the specialist Rory Delap style player, if a striker had the ball in his hands and placed it, in the general area of the throw or threw it to his thrower, I would allow the the thrower to at least pick up the ball, before starting the count, unless he was genuinely taking the mick and even then I would give him a shout before starting my count. However if they are on the attack (winning) and they are sending up their right back 50 yards to take it then the count will start more quickly.

A lot helps by setting your stall out early as to where the throw is to be taken, which is step 1 of this process for me, whether that be verbally or with a whistle and hand signals, the player knows where it is to be taken from, you can (if at a local level) work out who are going to be to be the likely suspects. After the first 20 mins or so if the ball play is genuinely slow, I will remind the teams vocally that I can start to use a count if I decide it is needed. Then when I do use the count, I blow the whistle, first words I will tell the player "from there please" and start the count. Although it's great new tool to have, in all seriousness, if I am out in the middle on my own with potentially 34 players and coaches and whoever is watching, I don't need to start arguments to be exact to law, a bit of common sense and I can justify it as in the leagues I am at, both sides are using the similar tactics. Get the ball and long throw in to box where their 6ft 4 skinny kid is playing trying to get a head onto it. I will always say, i will let you get your thrower onto the ball and I will do the same for them but don't take advantage.
 
🤔 I think if deployed in the way intended the were only counting at the point we would have been getting close to a caution, or reprimand, so we are still vocally encouraging the restart and at a time we would have still blown the whistle to indicate the restart needs to be taken so, yes I think whistle usage will go up a little but in reality we hopefully won't have to deploy it too frequently.
This and only this.

Yesterday I had shouts from the crowd for the 5 second count down at a goal kick when the game was 0-0 in the first half. I also had shouts from the team who were 1-0 up, when the losing team was setting up to take a throw in. I only began using the count when the players showed an intent to delay restarting the game.

This law is about reducing deliberate delaying. We need to understand the difference between that and just taking time to properly execute a set piece.
 
This and only this.

Yesterday I had shouts from the crowd for the 5 second count down at a goal kick when the game was 0-0 in the first half. I also had shouts from the team who were 1-0 up, when the losing team was setting up to take a throw in. I only began using the count when the players showed an intent to delay restarting the game.

This law is about reducing deliberate delaying. We need to understand the difference between that and just taking time to properly execute a set piece.
In principle I agree. However this is the exact concept we started with when we were meant to give goalkeepers 6 seconds only with the ball in the hand. Apply the concept and not the wording. We ended up with some keepers holding the ball up to 30 seconds before being penalised.
As long as we don't head down the same path as years go by, it sounds good. Getting complacent with it worries me.
 
In principle I agree. However this is the exact concept we started with when we were meant to give goalkeepers 6 seconds only with the ball in the hand. Apply the concept and not the wording. We ended up with some keepers holding the ball up to 30 seconds before being penalised.
As long as we don't head down the same path as years go by, it sounds good. Getting complacent with it worries me.
I think the punishment helps. Reversing the restart instead of caution or idfk in what is a flipping mess to manage at times let's face it, will probably allow it to maintain. Similar to the GK holding the ball, that seems to be holding well.
 
In principle I agree. However this is the exact concept we started with when we were meant to give goalkeepers 6 seconds only with the ball in the hand. Apply the concept and not the wording. We ended up with some keepers holding the ball up to 30 seconds before being penalised.
As long as we don't head down the same path as years go by, it sounds good. Getting complacent with it worries me.

The big difference is the 6 second count was supposed to start when the GK had possession, but the 5 second count is only supposed to start once the player is delaying. The TI/Goal Kick 5 second counts are only designed to be used as an alternative to cautioning players for delaying the restart.

During a GK, I watched a ref tell a GK to go move a stray ball off the field, and then immediately start the 5 second count. That is consistent with neither the wording or the concept. These counts are going to take getting used to.

From Law 15:
If a player is unfairly delaying the taking of a throw-in for their team, the referee will whistle and signal the start of a five-second countdown. The referee will visually count down the five seconds with a raised hand, and if the throw-in has not been taken by the end of the five seconds, it is awarded to the opposing team. The offending player is cautioned only if they excessively delay the restart after the throw-in has been awarded to the opposing team.*​
 
The big difference is the 6 second count was supposed to start when the GK had possession, but the 5 second count is only supposed to start once the player is delaying
This actually works in favour of my argument of referees getting complacent. Goalkeeper having posession is clearly defined and has little room for interpretation. When referee had to start the 6 seconds count was relatively clear. "Unfairly delaying" is not clearly defined and it gives referees a lot of wiggle room.
I do understand the the 5 second count has a lot more going for it. Things that @JamesL said and on top of that the whistle and visibility of the count.

It took almost 30 years for the implementation of the 6 second law to be bad enough that powers that be had to do something about it. Time will tell for the 5 second count.
 
Can it really be worse than it was when the only tool the R had was a caution? I’m typically conical about IFAB logic, but this seems a great innovation to me. It really shouldn’t come into play all that often. And I think the huge differentiator from the 6 second rule is the severity of the sanction. An IFK in the PA is a big deal (and a trial for the R). A flipped TI isn’t that big of a deal.
 
Can it really be worse than it was when the only tool the R had was a caution? I’m typically conical about IFAB logic, but this seems a great innovation to me. It really shouldn’t come into play all that often. And I think the huge differentiator from the 6 second rule is the severity of the sanction. An IFK in the PA is a big deal (and a trial for the R). A flipped TI isn’t that big of a deal.
Completely agree, there is no doubt the new initiatives have sped up the game massively, we can see that with the vast decrease in added time in the EPL. That's more the 1 minute off if treatment is needed rather than speeding up GK's / throw-ins / subs, but it has all blended together to significantly speed up the game. Physios have pretty much become something of a lesser spotted creature, we are going entire games without seeing them whereas before we were lucky to go more than 10 minutes.

Keepers releasing from hand is different to goal kicks and throw-ins, whether under the old 6 second or the new 8 second law, as it is much more clear when they should be ready to release. They don't need to go and fetch the ball, they don't need to be told where to release it from, they have it in their hands so it is obvious. Throw-ins and goal kicks are obviously different and referees need to use a level of common sense as to when the taker is delaying the taking, even more so at grass roots where they may have had to fetch the ball from the far touchline on the adjacent pitch, or fish it out of a lake / tree behind the goal.
 
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