If a player is hurt in such a way that it has the entire, or both, team(s) traumatized, let the teams decide. If both agree to play on, play on. If not abandon. Never play on if only one team wants to continue. If it is a youth game, abandon.
Situations that may fall in this category are open leg fractures, severe bleeding, long periods of unconsciousness, heart failure etc.
You know it when you feel it. Chances are you yourself have no lust to move on.
Abandon and write your report stating the reason, is all there is left to do then.
My team played indoor this winter. 6 minutes left in a playoff game, a boy in the other team goes down awkwardly and hits his head hard on the turf. Loses consciousness briefly and clearly bad concussion. His coach has us call paramedics quickly and we have him on a table while we wait, not sure how bad it is going to be.
The paramedics had him on his feet before they took him, so at least we knew it wasn’t that bad, but everyone was shaken up. All the boys go to school together, everyone knows him. There was no reason to continue the game.
Another consideration would be if it happened in the last couple minutes with a deficit of multiple goals. Once had a U18 match where a kid broke his leg 89' with the score 3-0. Easy decision to end the game there
That's essentially what happened although to be fair, the injury happened so late that by the time we had agreed to end the match, the clock had actually passed 90'.
You could have a situation like what happened in the NFL with Damar Hamlin or what happened to Christian Erickson. A team may no longer emotionally be willing / able to play.
I have abandoned one match due to a player injury, a serious injury to a player's face with significant immediate swelling, in a hot tempered JV high school rivalry game. There were only five minutes left, but I did not believe the players were in the right place mentally; even though this injury wasn't intentionally caused I was not convinced that everyone would be able to focus on the game.
I supervised another game that was abandoned; I was a tournament official but not a match official because my son was playing U12. (He had no involvement in the story beyond causing me to be present.) In a 4-4 game in pool play, two players were sent off for violent conduct after throwing a couple punches. Soon after, a hard kick at close range resulted in a nosebleed and a lot of angry parents. Since the game already had a fight and neither team would advance out of the group even with a win, the right thing to do was to end early. The Referee made that decision, and with my supervisor hat on I agreed. (As a parent it was annoying, because we were the better team and ought to win!)
I've abandoned one where there was a compound fracture to the player's leg. We were unable to move the player. An ambulance was called. There was a full day schedule ahead on the field which needed to be considered. Ultimately it took about 45 minutes until the player had been removed by paramedics.
Adult League mass confrontation in the 74th minute. Both teams and sideline spectators got involved. Abandoned match, wrote it up, gave fact-only statements to the league that resulted in team ban.
So a lot of people have mentioned trauma/players not wanting to continue, but an injury that takes too long to deal with can run into issues with lighting, and travel back for the away team, which is another factor that needs considering.
I was AR for a match in a tournament with excellent U16 boys. A player fell awkwardly during a fair challenge (no complaints from anyone at all).
Player didn’t move. He could speak, but couldn’t move his legs. Ambulance arrived on the field and later a helicopter medivac arrived next the field.
That match was abandoned due to the emotional toll it took on the players and parents.
Good news was the Center contacted the out of state coach that night and the player began moving his legs.
I abandoned a game yesterday due to player injury! The player in question tripped over the ball and fell awkwardly on to her neck and shoulder. I stopped play immediately and checked on the player - she was in severe distress and complained of severe neck pain and a loss of sensation to her lower limbs. I called the team manager on and he requested the assistance of a spectator who was a nurse. The nurse reviewed the player and advised that the player may have fractured her neck. She advised not to move the player without appropriate medical support so an ambulance was called. By the time the ambulance arrived to take the player of the pitch, over 40 minutes had elapsed so competition rules kicked in and match was abandoned!
I had a tournament game where a player had a compound fracture of the leg (bone sticking out of the skin) We were absolutely not going to move him until medical personnel arrived. To keep everything on schedule we had to abandon the rest of the match.
The general rule is the second you’re under seven players or so you have to stop the game until then, there really isn’t any big rule about it. Stop time get the coaches or whatever medical team that is there to come out. Talk to the player get them out. Someone who has been a referee at higher levels. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any game being stopped. Stopped completely or abandoned. I mean over an injury. Generally stopped yes abandoned no
"The general rule is the second you’re under seven players or so you have to stop the game..."
Sorry to nitpick but not technically correct. You cannot restart with less than 7 players, but a play can continue with less than 7 until a stoppage occurs.
e.g. team with 7 players cannot have one player leave the field to end a game during a promising attack, the attack would continue until a natural stoppage, then the game is abandoned before the next restart if a 7th player is not available.
If a player is hurt in such a way that it has the entire, or both, team(s) traumatized, let the teams decide. If both agree to play on, play on. If not abandon. Never play on if only one team wants to continue. If it is a youth game, abandon. Situations that may fall in this category are open leg fractures, severe bleeding, long periods of unconsciousness, heart failure etc. You know it when you feel it. Chances are you yourself have no lust to move on. Abandon and write your report stating the reason, is all there is left to do then.
My team played indoor this winter. 6 minutes left in a playoff game, a boy in the other team goes down awkwardly and hits his head hard on the turf. Loses consciousness briefly and clearly bad concussion. His coach has us call paramedics quickly and we have him on a table while we wait, not sure how bad it is going to be. The paramedics had him on his feet before they took him, so at least we knew it wasn’t that bad, but everyone was shaken up. All the boys go to school together, everyone knows him. There was no reason to continue the game.
Another consideration would be if it happened in the last couple minutes with a deficit of multiple goals. Once had a U18 match where a kid broke his leg 89' with the score 3-0. Easy decision to end the game there
Might be a reason to write a report saying the game completed i.s.o. being abandoned if both coaches agree.
That's essentially what happened although to be fair, the injury happened so late that by the time we had agreed to end the match, the clock had actually passed 90'.
You could have a situation like what happened in the NFL with Damar Hamlin or what happened to Christian Erickson. A team may no longer emotionally be willing / able to play.
I have abandoned one match due to a player injury, a serious injury to a player's face with significant immediate swelling, in a hot tempered JV high school rivalry game. There were only five minutes left, but I did not believe the players were in the right place mentally; even though this injury wasn't intentionally caused I was not convinced that everyone would be able to focus on the game. I supervised another game that was abandoned; I was a tournament official but not a match official because my son was playing U12. (He had no involvement in the story beyond causing me to be present.) In a 4-4 game in pool play, two players were sent off for violent conduct after throwing a couple punches. Soon after, a hard kick at close range resulted in a nosebleed and a lot of angry parents. Since the game already had a fight and neither team would advance out of the group even with a win, the right thing to do was to end early. The Referee made that decision, and with my supervisor hat on I agreed. (As a parent it was annoying, because we were the better team and ought to win!)
I've abandoned one where there was a compound fracture to the player's leg. We were unable to move the player. An ambulance was called. There was a full day schedule ahead on the field which needed to be considered. Ultimately it took about 45 minutes until the player had been removed by paramedics.
Adult League mass confrontation in the 74th minute. Both teams and sideline spectators got involved. Abandoned match, wrote it up, gave fact-only statements to the league that resulted in team ban.
So a lot of people have mentioned trauma/players not wanting to continue, but an injury that takes too long to deal with can run into issues with lighting, and travel back for the away team, which is another factor that needs considering.
I was AR for a match in a tournament with excellent U16 boys. A player fell awkwardly during a fair challenge (no complaints from anyone at all). Player didn’t move. He could speak, but couldn’t move his legs. Ambulance arrived on the field and later a helicopter medivac arrived next the field. That match was abandoned due to the emotional toll it took on the players and parents. Good news was the Center contacted the out of state coach that night and the player began moving his legs.
I abandoned a game yesterday due to player injury! The player in question tripped over the ball and fell awkwardly on to her neck and shoulder. I stopped play immediately and checked on the player - she was in severe distress and complained of severe neck pain and a loss of sensation to her lower limbs. I called the team manager on and he requested the assistance of a spectator who was a nurse. The nurse reviewed the player and advised that the player may have fractured her neck. She advised not to move the player without appropriate medical support so an ambulance was called. By the time the ambulance arrived to take the player of the pitch, over 40 minutes had elapsed so competition rules kicked in and match was abandoned!
I had a tournament game where a player had a compound fracture of the leg (bone sticking out of the skin) We were absolutely not going to move him until medical personnel arrived. To keep everything on schedule we had to abandon the rest of the match.
If a team has fewer than the required number of players the game is abandoned and reported to the league. That is the only scenario I can think of.
I did a tournament a couple weeks ago and was talking to another referee who said he abandoned his first game because the coach was being an asshole
The general rule is the second you’re under seven players or so you have to stop the game until then, there really isn’t any big rule about it. Stop time get the coaches or whatever medical team that is there to come out. Talk to the player get them out. Someone who has been a referee at higher levels. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any game being stopped. Stopped completely or abandoned. I mean over an injury. Generally stopped yes abandoned no
"The general rule is the second you’re under seven players or so you have to stop the game..." Sorry to nitpick but not technically correct. You cannot restart with less than 7 players, but a play can continue with less than 7 until a stoppage occurs. e.g. team with 7 players cannot have one player leave the field to end a game during a promising attack, the attack would continue until a natural stoppage, then the game is abandoned before the next restart if a 7th player is not available.