Referee Rules

Would someone be kind enough to enlighten me of the rule c7 'deliberately leaving the field of play during a game'. Preferably a referee

Allen654 wrote:

Would someone be kind enough to enlighten me of the rule c7 'deliberately leaving the field of play during a game'. Preferably a referee

If you leave the field of play - e.g. for a drink - without permission it is a yellow card.

I'm assuming you've been caught out by this one? We had it a few years back.

(not a referee)

Also had one for a player taking a drink, at the touchline but still on the pitch, whilst the ball was out of play.

and that was in a friendly!!!

Yea we have. One player got 'warned' for throwing his undertop onto the side without going off the pitch and apparently he was off then one got booked for having a drink at the sideline having being passed onto him whilst the other team collected the ball for their throwing on the other side of the pitch. Surely referees don't expect and player to shout or run to the other side of the pitch to ask to get a drink when it's common sense to get one when the ball is miles out of play. It's not interrupting play or preventing the team from continuing the game

two things here
law and common sense

law says that a player must ask permission of the referee to deliberatly leave the field of play,,for attention change of kit drink etc.....law says if i a player doesnt ask and does it,,its a caution,,if i player does get permission to leave and comes back on without getting permission to come back on its a caution

common sense says if player nips for a drink especially on a hot day then you turn a blind eye as long as he is taking the mickey and doing it every time hoping to hold up game,,and the bottle is not in the players hands when game restarts,,,,,

if a player runs off for a drink during open play i will probably have a word and explain that get a quick drink when play has stopped....


its about control so referee knows how many players on a pitch etc

Ok thanks for clearing that up. Just find it a bit odd how he booked our player for it when 1) he wasnt off the pitch and 2) the ball was out of play and no where near about to come back into play. The irony is that the referee actually prevented the game fr restarting by runnin all the way across the pitch to book the player.

have actually seen a referee see a player take a drink and went to him and said he was classing that as having treatment so the player had to leave the field of play until told to come back on by the ref,,as though he had been injured lol

Funny as you very very rarely see pro's booked for it plus with all the emphasis on players keeping hydrated even in cool conditions, as man in black has pointed out if its not holding the game up what's the problem

Glad to hear Clive has found common sense

No drinks till half time, no changing kit till half time etc etc.........we will not be caught out again!!

one of the biggest problems with a player leaving without permission is they tend to run back on when play is close to them and get involved when the team with the ball dont expect him to be there,,so if he asks ref to go off he has to ask to come back on again and a ref should not allow him to come back on if play is close to him and he can get involved,,,,,so if i player just walks off gets a drink and ref doesnt know he could just walk back on and cause problems hence c6 entering or reentering the field of play as well as c7

I got booked once for mooning at a gobby spectator, but it was well worth it.