Interesting Technical Situation

[Nevadaref]

Originally Posted by CMHCoachNRef

In the situation in this OP, you are going to allow an OBVIOUS error by the officiating crew to punish a team who has done NOTHING AGAINST THE RULES!!!

My fellow Buckeye from the North in this case is, in my opinion, much more correct about this situation. Our job is to make the game fair. This situation is clearly NOT FAIR to the team making the substitution. People wonder why coaches dislike referees. It is stupid situations such as this that fuel that fire.

Your words got me thinking about other situations that are obvious mistakes by the officials and yet a team gets punished having not done anything wrong.

5.2.1 SITUATION E: During the pregame practice period, the visiting team
properly uses the east goal and the home team the west goal. The officials, by
mistake, allow the jumpers to face the wrong direction to start the game. A1 controls
the tap by tapping the ball back to A2. A2, realizing that he/she had warmed
up at the basket behind A1, dribbles to that basket and scores an uncontested
basket. RULING: Score the basket for Team A. The officials should stop the game
and emphasize to both teams the proper direction. The mistake is an official's
error by allowing A1 and B1 to face the wrong direction; not a correctable error.

7.5.2 SITUATION A: Team A is awarded a throw-in near the division line. The
administering official by mistake, puts the ball at B1’s disposal. B1 completes the
throw-in and Team B subsequently scores a goal. RULING: No correction can be
made for the mistake by the official after the throw-in ends.

So would you follow the rules in each of these cases or nullify the action under your sense of fairness?

I happen to approach officiating from a different direction than you. You have stated that you believe that the job of the official is to make sure that the game is fair. In contrast, I believe that the official is supposed to be a fair and unbiased arbiter of the rules. There is a difference between applying the rules equally and fairly to each team, and doing whatever one wishes in order to make the outcome of a situation jive with one's sense of fairness.

A very wise and experienced official once told me not to worry about what I thought was fair because the people who wrote the rules had already decided what was fair for me.