To Toss or Not to Toss

At the October meeting during Peter Watson's quiz (top notch as usual) there
was a question of when and how often may a referee toss a coin during a
match. I was sure that I had read somewhere that a referee should flick a
coin before a penalty shoot out not just to ascertain which team had first
kick, but also into which end the kicks should be taken

I found no allies to my cause and I just put it down to my furtive
imagination thought for my own piece of mind that I would double check so as
to ensure that I adopted the correct practice if required to do so in the
future.

The Football Association does instruct match officials as follows based upon
the International FA board agreement contained in the LOAF

The referee shall choose the goal at which all of the kicks shall be taken.

In this context it should be noted that

a) Where the referee forms the opinion for good reason (e.g. ground
conditions, crowd difficulties, police requests, etc) that kicks from the
penalty mark should be taken at one end of the field of play rather than the
other he must make the decision personally and should not involve other
persons (e.g. team captains) in related discussion on the matter. Having
made the decision he should inform the teams and accept responsibility for
his decision.

b) Where no such circumstances (as outlined above) pertain, the referee
shall toss a coin in the presence of the two team captains, having explained
to them in advance that if the coin comes down "heads" the kicks will be
taken at one end of the field of play and if "tails" at the other end. The
captains are not involved in making any choice in this procedure. The
referee alone decides, using this method


At least I now know that I am not going mad !

Barrie Gale