A referee, who admittedly did not do a very good job by making this mistake, acknowleged a timeout request for a team that didn't have any. Immediately after blowing the whistle and granting the time out, the official realizes it was a spectator directly behind the bench for the team that called for it, not the head coach.
By rule, a time out must be granted when the referee gives it, even if it is a mistake, like when the wrong team has the ball, etc. (If I'm incorrect, let me know)
Also, by rule, a team receives a time out when one is requested, even if they don't have any to use. They then receive an administrative technical foul for the excess time out. (Again, correct me if I'm wrong)
Now - what happens if the time out is granted to a team that doesn't have one, but they didn't actually request it?
I know the referees did a pretty bad job acknowledging a time-out from someone in the stands - but it has happened in the past. What is the best way to handle this situation? It doesn't make sense to penalize the team that didn't have the time-out that you gave them with a technical foul, since it wasn't really their fault they were given one. If a player or head coach, or even an assistant requested it, legally or illegally, it makes sense to penalize them in that case. But in the example I'm asking about, what do you do?
And yes, we know the ref deserves a big smack with a wet noodle - but I'm more concerned with how to handle a situation like this - not that the ref screwed up - we already know that
Thanks in advance!