The Ref Stop

Captain's Armbands - LOTG

K

Kent Ref

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I went to a recent referee's meeting and i asked about what to do if captain's don't have armbands?

The answer given was refer to the competition rules.

So is there in no answer / sanction in the new LOTG if a player does not have the correct equipment?

If this is right, why have this in the LOTG at all?
 
The Ref Stop
What do you do if any player does not have correct equipment? This is the same

A bit of caveat, at grassroots, some laws that don't compromise safety or fairness are a little flexible, especially if they are new.
 
Think you play on and report to the competition who should fine the club an amount based of them breaching the LOTG.

I will add that I think it isn't a massive issue. I usually just clock the face of whoever meets me for the coin flip and go from there.
 

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one said:
What do you do if any player does not have correct equipment? This is the same

A bit of caveat, at grassroots, some laws that don't compromise safety or fairness are a little flexible, especially if they are new.
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I ask them to leave the field to put it right.

But i'd be happier IF the LOTG back me up on this.

The answer i got from the meeting makes the armband featuring in the LOTG pointless. "Refer to the competition rules" was the answer i got.
 
But you can’t play without a captain, and a captain can’t play without an armband. Is that not an endless cycle of no game?
 
A captain can put some tape around his arm and away you go. No problem.

My question really is why put it in the LOTG at all if the CFA / FA answer to no armband is refer to the competition rules?
 
Kent Ref said:
A captain can put some tape around his arm and away you go. No problem.

My question really is why put it in the LOTG at all if the CFA / FA answer to no armband is refer to the competition rules?
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It's like Corner Flags, undershorts, duplicate numbers on player's backs etc
It's normal at grass roots. Best you can do is just have a word (and report if you so choose)
I'll remind them I can hardly single them out as leaders if I can't identify them pronto. When I captained a team, I wanted everyone to know who was in charge (given it wasn't the referee ;) ). I don't understand why some Captains don't care
 
(Trials section of LOTG 2024 -2025). https://www.theifab.com/trials/only-the-captain-can-approach-the-referee/

An armband will be essential if anyone is officiating a game in a competition taking part in the 'captains only approach the referee trial'. This will enable timely and correct identification and avoid wrongful sanction :-

  • If one player other than the captain enters the captain-only zone, the offender should be cautioned (YC) for dissent by action
  • If more than one player from a team enters the captain-only zone, at least one player must be cautioned (YC) – this will usually be the first unauthorised player to enter the captain-only zone or the player whose approach is most aggressive
  • Any incident in which more than one unauthorised player from a team enters the captain-only zone must be reported to the appropriate authorities after the match
 
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My question really is why put it in the LOTG at all if the CFA / FA answer to no armband is refer to the competition rules?
 
Kent Ref said:
My question really is why put it in the LOTG at all if the CFA / FA answer to no armband is refer to the competition rules?
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Because the FA will have decided the punishment for no captain's armband is a fine, possibly point deductions for repeat offences, so no caution or abandoned necessary.

They can't issue a blanket fine as different clubs at different levels will require different values of fines.

So they have delegated the issuing of these fines to the league.

There is lots of things in the LOTG that is like this. Technical areas, some leagues have no expectations of a technical area but it is covered in the LOTG.
 
OldNavyRef said:
Because the FA will have decided the punishment for no captain's armband is a fine, possibly point deductions for repeat offences, so no caution or abandoned necessary.

They can't issue a blanket fine as different clubs at different levels will require different values of fines.

So they have delegated the issuing of these fines to the league.

There is lots of things in the LOTG that is like this. Technical areas, some leagues have no expectations of a technical area but it is covered in the LOTG.
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My point exactly. This law change, changes nothing, so why bother?

All we are doing now is reporting no armband to the competition - same as before this was put into the LOTG.. Nothing has changed so why bother putting it in the LOTG?
 
Kent Ref said:
My point exactly. This law change, changes nothing, so why bother?

All we are doing now is reporting no armband to the competition - same as before this was put into the LOTG.. Nothing has changed so why bother putting it in the LOTG?
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LOTG changes covers more than just what The FA does or does not do 😂

We don't require captains armband and don't report anything at the moment. Still on the 23-24 lotg. Time will tell what we will have to do next year/season.
 
Kent Ref said:
My point exactly. This law change, changes nothing, so why bother?

All we are doing now is reporting no armband to the competition - same as before this was put into the LOTG.. Nothing has changed so why bother putting it in the LOTG?
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The explanation makes it mandatory.

Expect a change in the SCOR where armband was down to competition (may/shall)

In addition the explanation makes it clear that the armband is subject to the same as other player equipment regards advertising/slogans etc.

It's not a massive change, but formalises what we do now.
 
JamesL said:
The explanation makes it mandatory.

Expect a change in the SCOR where armband was down to competition (may/shall)

In addition the explanation makes it clear that the armband is subject to the same as other player equipment regards advertising/slogans etc.

It's not a massive change, but formalises what we do now.
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Thank you.

So what is the expectation within the new LOTG if a team / player refuses to comply?

When i asked i was told refer to the competition rules. Normally the LOTG states what is expected of the referee in the scenario of equipment - eg a player without shinpads is asked to leave the FOP to get some. This is the question.
 
JamesL said:
The explanation makes it mandatory.

Expect a change in the SCOR where armband was down to competition (may/shall)

In addition the explanation makes it clear that the armband is subject to the same as other player equipment regards advertising/slogans etc.

It's not a massive change, but formalises what we do now.
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Must add, the requirement for captains compulsory armband can be changed by national FA's for grassroots who may just put it back on the local competitions to decide.
 
OldNavyRef said:
Think you play on and report to the competition who should fine the club an amount based of them breaching the LOTG.

I will add that I think it isn't a massive issue. I usually just clock the face of whoever meets me for the coin flip and go from there.
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Back in the day, I always used to write down the no.s of the two captains and who won the coin flip. Found it was quite useful
 
Kent Ref said:
Thank you.

So what is the expectation within the new LOTG if a team / player refuses to comply?

When i asked i was told refer to the competition rules. Normally the LOTG states what is expected of the referee in the scenario of equipment - eg a player without shinpads is asked to leave the FOP to get some. This is the question.
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Play the game as there is no safety issue, report to competition, who will deal with as per their competition rules.
 
I don't see it as any different to if there are no corner flags. Law says they are mandatory, but it also says the game should still be played if they are not available. In saying that referees should use spirit of the game they are clearly saying use common sense, they can't list every possible scenario when that is needed. They list corner flags, and I would argue that a game without corner flags is far more of an issue than a captain not having an armband.
 
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