Benny Waltz Birmingham, Ala. What is the correct penalty for a team playing with more than 11 players for several minutes before the infraction is noticed? Mike Woitalla: IÆll start off Benny, by saying, that the referee, the refereeÆs assistants and coaches (or assistant coaches) of both teams should count the number of players on both teams before the game, at halftime and after every substitution. Because the situation you describe is one of the most embarrassing in soccer and it is not easily remedied. As Alfred Kleinaitis, U.S. Soccer Manager of Referee Development & Assessment says, not everything in soccer has a black and white solution. This is one of those. Now if one team played a few minutes with an extra player and no goal was scored, the referee could get the extra player off, caution him or her, and continue play. If for some reason, after the game, the losing team protested, the leagueÆs competition committee would make a ruling. But there seems to be no reason to void the result. So letÆs make it more interesting. LetÆs say the team with the extra man scored. With KleinaitisÆs help, hereÆs what we come up with: 1. If the ref realizes a goal is scored by a team with an extra man before the restart, the ref may disallow the goal, caution the 12th player, and restart with a goal kick. But the goal canÆt be disallowed after the ensuing kickoff. (Rule V specifically says you canÆt change your decision after the game has been restarted.) 2. If you realize after the restart, and it happened early the game, you could restart the game from the beginning, and caution the 12th player. ôIf you started the game with one team having 12 players, perhaps you should give a caution to yourself,ö Kleinaitis jokes. 3. If the game is well underway, you can terminate the game and report to the league officials. But doing that doesnÆt give the team with the correct number of players a chance to win. So you could keep the game going. If the team that scored with an extra man wins, obviously the losing team may protest to the league. (I believe the English League recently upheld a scoreline despite a man-up goal.) If the team that scored with a man-up loses, one would think a protest unlikely. Once again, count those players! (If you have a question for a Soccer America Magazine editor, click “Q&A with SA Editors” in the left column of the home page under “Interactive.”)