Law 3 - The Number of Players
Official Publications Related to Law 3
- 10/12/2007 – Handling Injuries
- A US Soccer Position Paper that references the FIFA Additional Instructions to clarify the handling of injuries involving the goal keeper, specifically when the goal keeper and a teammate or an opponent collide requiring both to receive medical attention on the field of play.
- 07/20/2004 – FIFA Memorandum – Number of Players in “Other Matches”
- A US Soccer Memorandum that clarifies the term “other matches” in Law 3 and relates to the number of allowable subs in non-league sanctioned matches.
- 11/22/2002 – Abandoning a Match Due to Insufficient Number of Players
- A US Soccer Memorandum that clarifies situations in which a match is abandoned due to too few players on the field, as well as situations in which play is allowed to continue with fewer than the minimum number of players.
- 04/23/2001 – Players Temporarily Off the Field Involvement of the Fourth Official
- A US Soccer publication provides guidance to officials on the handling of injuries and removing a player from the field for treatment. Addressed are issues related to time lost, blood on uniform, and player re-entry. Key to this publication is the implementation of policy allowing the 4th official (or AR) to inspect players returning to the field from injury for blood or other rather than the referee be required to do so him/herself.
Administrating Injuries
When there is a concurrent injury to the goalkeeper and any other field player (regardless of team) and the trainer is called onto the field to attend to the goalkeeper and the other field player, both the player and the goalkeeper may be treated on the field of play and are not required to leave the field. Refer to the October 12, 2007 Position Paper, “Handling Injuries,” reference above for further information.
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2008 (Click to view/hide)