AboutJohn Cummings Expertise Do you have a call made by the referee in last week`s match puzzling you? Are you a referee who may not be certain that what was done was the right thing to do? I shall be glad to entertain any questions about officiating soccer. The more the players, coaches and supporters understand the referee and his/her decisions, the more fun we can have on the pitch.
Experience After coaching my son's travel team, I have been USSF State Referee, State Assessor, Assignor and State Instructor in addition to having been a college NISOA referee,a NISOA clinician, a NISOA assessor and a high school referee.
Question When expires at the end of quarter, half or the end of a game do you stop play or wait until the ball is out of play?
Answer In high school, when the score board clock runs out, the game is over. No added time, no discretion.
In USSF or FIFA, the referee keeps the clock. If there has been no wasted time, the game is over when time expires no matter where the ball is at.
The ref in USSF must add time for wasted or lost time during the game. In adding that time, it is often difficult to say exactly when that period of added time begins (e.g. do you start tracking time from the time you see the player fall, the time you determine the player may be seriously hurt, the time you stop play, or the time you call for the coach/trainer to come to aid the player). Since this is not exactly clear, many refs will stop the game at the expiration of time considering when play may stop or shift.
While the split second preferences of many in the US have some difficulty with this approach, we must remember that the game is for the players, and stopping the match at the most fair moment is what the players desire. This is why I think of refereeing as an art.
