Answers regarding a few rules inquiries from the first night of play.

QUESTION #1: Our goalkeeper played a ball to a teammate who advanced the ball over midfield and then played it back to the goalie. The referee called an infraction and gave the other team an indirect free kick where the keeper touched the ball... i don't understand?

ANSWER:

 Although some leagues, including ours, use a house rule variation of the FIFA Futsal rules during seasonal play this Regional Tournament is a National qualifier and as advertised follows the FIFA laws except for slide tackling. This rule was highlighted in the pre tournament emails/

QUESTION #2: A player passes the ball from a kick-in to his own goalkeeper who missed the ball and it went into their own goal/ Why wasn't this a goal?

ANSWER:

Because no goal can be scored from a kick-in the goal cannot count regardless of which goal it goes into. The interesting thing is that the resulting restart is actually a corner kick for the opposing team as the ball crossed the goal ine last touched by a defensive player. A compliment to the referee who made the proper call immediately on this infrequent occurrence.

QUESTION #3: One of our teams players was given a yellow card and made to sit out for 2 minutes after an improper substitution. This has never happened before in our league games and we don't know why it was called.

ANSWER:

According the the FIFA Laws below this may have been the players second offense in which case it was the proper call by the official. Here is the first part of that FIFA Law...

Substitutes

If a substitute enters the pitch by infringing the substitution procedure or causes his team to be playing with an extra player, the referees, assisted by the assistant referees, must adhere to the following guidelines:

• stop play, although not immediately if the advantage can be applied

• caution him for unsporting behaviour if his team plays with an extra player

  or for infringing the substitution procedure if the substitution was not

  made correctly

• send him off if he denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious

  goalscoring opportunity. The number of players in his team is reduced if the offence consists of an infringement of the substitution procedure but is not reduced if his team is playing with an extra player 

 

RANT: In my opinion I think officials in outdoor soccer and futsal take way too much liberty when interpreting the rules for what they see is the benefit of the young player. It is the referees job to enforce the rules as they are written thereby forcing the players to learn and play by the proper rules. Letting young players get away with improper restarts, kick-ins, throw-ins & substitutions undermines the principles of the game. I cannot image a youth football official letting a player continue a run and score a touchdown because, "..his foot only touched the out of bounds line a little bit." At the young age of 8 years old we were taught to challenge a baserunner if we thought the player did not touch a base. You would take the ball, throw it to the 1st baseman* and he sets on the bag. If the umpire agreed the the player missed the bag the protest was validated and the player is out. 

 

Be an advocate for 'playing by the rules' and explain to your young player how important it is to learn and also play by the the rules. Encourage referees to call the infractions, against every team, every game. 

 

The players will get better, the game will get better and it will teach our youngsters a lesson that will benefit them throughout their lives.

 

Thank you for a great first night of play and good luck to all teams today and Sunday!

 

Sincerely,

Otto Orf

Otto@GreatLakesFutsal.com

330-329-5883

 

 CLICK HERE for the FIFA Futsal Laws of the Game