U.S. Soccer Position Paper: March 26, 2009

U.S. Soccer's Referee Department breaks down a situation involving an accidental collision between two players. A detailed analysis of this rule interpretation is available in the Laws of the Game Section of ussoccer.com.

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[lydayjr]

its the refs call to determine if he thinks the player is in need of immediate attention and if that is enough to stop the flow of the game

[ToMii23q]

or if the ball is out of play

[defenceguide]

@RSSJ91 no

[RSSJ91]

From what I've heard, a ref must stop the match asap if it involves head injury.

Is this true?

[chetumalkid]

The ref should have stopped the match. Medical assistance is crucial to avoid permanent injury.

[hedak7]

that was the right call even though it was dangerous for two of the defending teams players to be down, good call the ball had remained in the box.

[maisis00]

I think the ref made the right call here. He waited until the attack was over and blew his whistle. From what I saw in live play it just looked like the on defender closet to the camera got his bell rung a bit. I did not immedaitely see it as a major head injury.

[buccos2324]

The ref must immediately stop play if there is a severe head injury. I'm a ref, and all refs are taught safety first, no matter what level!

[AntoKneeo619]

the referee should have stoped the game no matter what!

[guitarfoool]

the ref has the discretion to stop the game or not! its all up to the ref!

See Law 5 of FIFA Laws of the Game 2009/2010, where it states, "The referee must adhere to the following procedure when dealing with injured players: play is allowed to continue until the ball is out of play if a player is, in the opinion of the referee, only slightly injured [and] play [may be] stopped if, in the opinion of the referee, a player is seriously injured."

[GiftsOfSin]

If it is a big injury then yes the ref can stop the game. But this seemed like it wasn't too big, it is up to the other team to play the ball respectivley out of bounds. I mean it's classy if you do so. If not it's a good scoring chance.

[St8rD3str0y3r]

No hard feelings, but the US Soccer Federation issued a memoranda saying that injuries, especially head injuries, override the "flow of the game." Minor injuries, yes, maintain the flow. A head on collision, however, is always grounds for stopping play.