Guidelines for Referees, Coaches, and Division Directors for Reporting and Resolving Terminated and Abandoned Games

Ensuring player safety is the responsibility of all adults and referees involved with a BAYS soccer game. There are two mechanisms for the termination or abandonment of a match either during or immediately prior to the start of play: termination by the referee and abandonment by a coach.

1. Termination by the Referee

BAYS referees have a duty to determine if “the condition of the field of play or its surrounds or the weather conditions are such as to allow or not to allow a match to take place.” BAYS referees are empowered to decide to officially start, stop, suspend, or terminate a match for infringement of the Laws such as excessive red cards, for outside interference, and for the safety of the players should weather or field conditions require that action. 

2. Abandonment by a Coach

Coaches may abandon their team’s participation in a match if they become concerned that by continuing with the game their players would be exposed to a risk of serious injury due to player infringement of the Laws, outside interference, weather conditions, or field conditions. To abandon a game, coaches shall call their players to the sideline in front of their bench and request that the captain or another player inform the referee that the team is abandoning the game. Coaches are required to follow the Zero Tolerance Policy when communicating to the referee that they are abandoning the game. The game shall be abandoned when the referee signals that the match has ended. 

Determination of Outcome; BAYS Match Rule 7

If a match is terminated or abandoned, the decision on a resolution of that match is NOT up to the referee or the coaches of the two teams. Determining the result of the game is an administrative decision of the league. In BAYS, that administrative decision is made by the responsible Division Director: See BAYS Match Rule 7.

After a terminated game, referees shall file their reports immediately if possible, but not later than the normal game reporting window of 48 hours, and shall address the circumstances that led to the stoppage of the game. 

After an abandoned game, both coaches shall immediately (day of game) file written reports on the abandoned or terminated game with their Division Director. The coach who abandoned the match shall specifically indicate why the team was pulled and the game abandoned. 

Referees for the abandoned game shall also file their reports immediately if possible, but not later than the normal game reporting window of 48 hours, and shall provide any information that they have surrounding the circumstances that led to the abandonment of the game by the coach.

In determining the outcome of a terminated or abandoned game, the responsible Division Director has the following options. See below for guidelines:

1. Declare the game official and accept as final the score recorded at the point when the game was terminated or abandoned.
2. Declare “No Game” and order a REPLAY of the entire match within the Rules of the Game and in accordance with BAYS Match Rule 8.
3. Declare “No Game” and NOT schedule a replay. In this option, the game would not be treated as a single or double forfeit and no loss of points in the standings or fines would be assessed.
4. Award a single or double forfeit to one or both teams if the behavior of either team is, in the discretion of the Division Director, particularly egregious.

The responsible Division Director does NOT have the option of directing the teams to resume play from the point of stoppage.

It is recommended that each Division Director treat all terminated or abandoned matches within a given Section in the same manner, when the circumstances are similar. The Division Director may also accept the result as final if both coaches agree to the result. While coaches must act in the best interest of the safety of their team, abandonment of a match does not necessarily mean that the match will be replayed in its entirety.

For terminated games not due to sportsmanship issues, Division Directors should use the guidelines below to help determine the appropriate game resolution to seek consistency across the league. Grade Directors can be consulted with any questions.

If the game is terminated in the first half or at halftime, generally order a REPLAY.

• Exception: If the reported Goal Differential(GD) is ≥ 5 at the game stoppage, it is advisable to ask the coaches if they are in agreement to accept the recorded score as the official game score, and then if coaches agree, NO REPLAY is ordered.

If the game is terminated during the second half, there are multiple considerations:

• If the GD is ≤ 2, ask the coaches:

  • If the coaches Agree to accept the reported score as official, order NO REPLAY
  • If the coaches do NOT agree to accept the reported score as official, order REPLAY

• If the GD is ≥3:

  • AND there are fewer than 20 minutes left to play accept the reported score as official, order NO REPLAY
  • AND there are more than 20 minutes left to play ask the coaches:
    • If the coaches Agree to accept the reported score as official, order NO REPLAY
    • If the coaches do NOT agree to accept the reported score as official, order REPLAY

For abandoned games, factors which the responsible Division Director might consider include:

• Information included in referees’ game report (especially as it relates to poor sportsmanship)
• Information included in coaches’ game reports (especially as it relates to the reason for abandonment)
• Age of players (Grade 3 and Grade 4 are not results oriented)
• Competitive Level (MTOC eligible or recreational)
• Impact of game result on Section standings
• Time remaining in the season to schedule a replay

Under BAYS Match Rule 11, the Second Vice President may convene a Sportsmanship Review Committee hearing for this issue, if they deem it necessary.