ball hitting the wire on the overhead rail

[Kent Ref]

I reffed a game on 3G today but the FOP has 3 sets of overhead wires so the venue can create 3 5-a-side pitches.

Problem was the ball hit the wire 6 times in a game. I just shouted "play on" and the captain of one side decided to take issue with it.

If all drop balls are uncontested, who do i give the drop-ball to? If i blue team hit the wire but i think the ball was going to a blue player do i give it to the blue team? Or do i give it to the non-kicking team?

The red team were perfectly happy to play-on and they lost 6-2!

What would you do?

 

[es1]

My approach in the past was to mention this to both teams/managers and tell them what I'd do each time. In the past a contested drop ball was an easy out but I agree, with uncontested drop balls it could be tricky.

 

[ARF]

I reffed a game on 3G today but the FOP has 3 sets of overhead wires so the venue can create 3 5-a-side pitches.

Problem was the ball hit the wire 6 times in a game. I just shouted "play on" and the captain of one side decided to take issue with it.

If all drop balls are uncontested, who do i give the drop-ball to? If i blue team hit the wire but i think the ball was going to a blue player do i give it to the blue team? Or do i give it to the non-kicking team?

The red team were perfectly happy to play-on and they lost 6-2!

What would you do?

The correct answer in law is that you stop play when the ball touches one of the wires, and restart with a dropped ball for whichever team last played the ball prior to it touching the wire, at the point they played it.

 

[JamesL]

What would you do?

Had this a few times and it's a pain in the backside.
You agree what to do if it happens and then you get a load of grief for doing it.
The easiest thing is to insist on their temporary removal. They arent that hard to put up and down.
If that's really not an option see @Alex Rush-Fear 's post

 

[Kent Ref]

Had this a few times and it's a pain in the backside.
You agree what to do if it happens and then you get a load of grief for doing it.
The easiest thing is to insist on their temporary removal. They arent that hard to put up and down.
If that's really not an option see @Alex Rush-Fear 's post

As far as i could see there were no staff anywhere to be seen. I don't think these wires can be easily removed (according to the home team). The three wires have a load of mesh attached to them and it would take a long time for this to be done. These wires are about 10 -12 foot high.

Plus the five a side started just after we finished.

With regard to the restart if the ball was going to the opposite team it seems morally wrong to give it to the team who were going to lose possession. But if that's the law then so be it.

 

[GraemeS]

As far as i could see there were no staff anywhere to be seen. I don't think these wires can be easily removed (according to the home team). The three wires have a load of mesh attached to them and it would take a long time for this to be done. These wires are about 10 -12 foot high.

Plus the five a side started just after we finished.

With regard to the restart if the ball was going to the opposite team it seems morally wrong to give it to the team who were going to lose possession. But if that's the law then so be it.

What I've done before is said the same as above *unless* it's hit the wire direct from a dead ball, in which case we just redo the FK/GK. That usually takes away at least a few of the otherwise awkward drop balls.

 

[Yampy]

As far as i could see there were no staff anywhere to be seen. I don't think these wires can be easily removed (according to the home team). The three wires have a load of mesh attached to them and it would take a long time for this to be done. These wires are about 10 -12 foot high.

Plus the five a side started just after we finished.

With regard to the restart if the ball was going to the opposite team it seems morally wrong to give it to the team who were going to lose possession. But if that's the law then so be it.

The tension required to keep these wires in place makes it a time consuming task to put them up and, to take them down. An attempt to take them down without proper training and tools could have lethal consequences. There staff I have encountered at these venues appear to be untrained and will not make changes anyway.

 

[one]

Also agree @Alex Rush-Fear for what the laws want you to do. But for practical reasons, if there are going to be many occurrences, I am more likely to treat ball hitting wires the same as ball hitting referee (pre pre-match agreements from teams). In short only stop play if ball touching the wires have meaningful impact.

 

[Ben448844]

I used to ref a team regularly at a St George's Park site that had 3 wires across it. I always told both teams before the game that if it hits the wires then we will play on. When it does hit the wire during the game I always shout "play on" because some people will have forgotten.

I did try going down the drop ball route (plus retakes of goal kicks etc) but that day the ball kept hitting the wires and everyone was moaning about the regular stoppage of play so I took a different approach which has always worked since.

Whichever route you go down the key is to have explained this to everyone before the game, then if there's any incidents during the game you've made yourself clear from the start.

This is of course advice for grassroots. For higher levels their may be specific competition rules?