Notes for Referees and Organisers

Notes for Referees and Team Organisers

1. Except for semi-finals and finals, team organisers are responsible for providing referees for their ‘home’ games (i.e. those games for which their team name appears first on the fixture list). The referee appointed either should be one of those on the approved list or should be approved by Peter Dazley (Peter.Dazley) or Liam Baldwin (Liam.Baldwin ) at least two full days before the match. (The referees for semi-finals and finals will be appointed by the organising committee.)

2. Referees should not work in the same area as members of either team. (In extremis, the organising committee may give approval for a referee that does satisfy this criterion.)

3. Referees should wear full kit (i.e. boots, socks, shorts and shirt not clashing with either team) and should supply themselves with a watch and whistle.(Whistles are available from the Organising Committee)

4. The usual laws of Association Football apply, adapted where necessary to account for seven players per side, except:

• There will be no offside.
• Two rolling substitutes are allowed for each team per game.
• No team may play with fewer than five players.
• Matches will last for ten minutes each half.

Referees and team organisers should ensure that they are familiar with the rules of the OU Seven-a-Side Football Competition.

5. Referees and Team Organisers should aim to see that the game is played in a good spirit. Verbal cautions should be used when necessary. Players should be sent off for serious foul play. Referees should not be reluctant to caution or send off players if necessary.

6. Cautions need not be reported, but sendings off should be made known to the organising committee via Peter Dazley(Peter.Dazley) Players sent off will automatically miss their team’s next match. Players sent off twice will take no further part in the competition.

7. Referees should bear in mind that a number of players in the competition do not play football regularly and so may not be familiar with the laws. When such players commit trivial offences, such as a foul throw, they should be advised of their error and not penalised in the first instance. Subsequent breaches would of course be dealt with appropriately. Fouls, including obstruction, should be penalised in all cases.