40 - REFEREES

The 1st Referee should be positioned on the same side of the playing area as the table-officials.

40.1. The referees shall be in absolute control of the game.Their authority over the players shall be effective during the whole time that they and the players are within the competition area.

40.2. All decisions of the referees on questions of fact shall be final and their interpretation of the rules shall be obeyed throughout the game. No protest or appeal can be made in relation to an interpretive decision of a referee. The referees shall not make any presumption as to the facts of any situation during the game but shall interpret what they observe to the best of their ability.

40.3. The referees shall whistle to start and restart the game and to declare goals, goal line throws and sideline throws, corner throws, infringements of the rules and timeouts. A referee may alter their decision provided they do so before the ball is put back into play.The referee must ensure that before the game is restarted that in their sole discretion neither team is disadvantaged. If players have responded to the initial (changed) call, then the referee should call Time-Out to allow the players to correct their positioning.

40.4. The referees shall have the power to order the removal from the competition area any person whose behavior prevents the referees from carrying out their duties in a proper and impartial manner.

40.5. The referees shall have the power to abandon the game at any time if, in their opinion, the behavior of the players, team-officials or other circumstances prevent it from being brought to a proper conclusion. If the game has to be abandoned the referees shall report their actions to the Chief Official.

40.6. Where the referees cannot agree on a decision the first named referee will take the final decision.

This short section is added for more completeness from ICF Chapter 2 Rule 30:

Some of the points mentioned are as follows:-

The referees shall:

• Provide their own equipment; the dress of referees is an appropriate black shirt and shorts or trousers. Referees should also wear sports shoes or appropriate alternatives.
• Provide written reports (one from each Referee) to the Chief Referee of all incidents resulting in a player being sent off, immediately upon completion of the game in which the incident occurred. Such report should include any request for further disciplinary action;
• Referees, whilst acting in any capacity with their team, loose their Referee status.They should respect without question all decisions given by the Referees controlling the game.They should set an example of good sports behaviour for other players to follow.