Post by Johnny on Apr 15, 2011 10:57:44 GMT 10
My brother in law is a coach in England and he e-mailed me with this question:
'We had a game the other day and the ref made us change the ball as it was the same colour as our strip (blue/black) is this correct? What happens if we played in white with a white ball? We have the same ref this weekend and I want to use the same balls, I've only just bought them'.
I answered him as follows but would be interested in any other advice:
There is nothing in the Laws of the game that specify ball colour. Law 2 covers all requirements of the ball and does not mention the colour. My first reaction to your question was to say that the ref was acting unreasonably by insisting on a light coloured ball when players are wearing a dark coloured strip. After thinking about however it is not easy for the referee to see the ball especially if the light is not that good (half dark all day in an English winter) and he is working without assistant referees (linesmen).
It is very difficult for instance for a ref working alone to clearly see if the ball is out of play or over the goal line (sometimes from a distance no matter how keen and fit he is) and anything that can be done to make it easier for him is not an unreasonable request. I know that orange balls are always used in snow to make it easier for players and referees even though this is not specified in the Laws of the game.
If I was you I would try to get a couple of white balls to keep this ref happy. You wouldn’t want to upset him before a ball had been kicked!
Lets have some quick replies with advice for the coming weekend from all you experts out there. Thanks
'We had a game the other day and the ref made us change the ball as it was the same colour as our strip (blue/black) is this correct? What happens if we played in white with a white ball? We have the same ref this weekend and I want to use the same balls, I've only just bought them'.
I answered him as follows but would be interested in any other advice:
There is nothing in the Laws of the game that specify ball colour. Law 2 covers all requirements of the ball and does not mention the colour. My first reaction to your question was to say that the ref was acting unreasonably by insisting on a light coloured ball when players are wearing a dark coloured strip. After thinking about however it is not easy for the referee to see the ball especially if the light is not that good (half dark all day in an English winter) and he is working without assistant referees (linesmen).
It is very difficult for instance for a ref working alone to clearly see if the ball is out of play or over the goal line (sometimes from a distance no matter how keen and fit he is) and anything that can be done to make it easier for him is not an unreasonable request. I know that orange balls are always used in snow to make it easier for players and referees even though this is not specified in the Laws of the game.
If I was you I would try to get a couple of white balls to keep this ref happy. You wouldn’t want to upset him before a ball had been kicked!
Lets have some quick replies with advice for the coming weekend from all you experts out there. Thanks