What is being questioned?
Every question in this scenario
The Players and substitutes investigation scenario asks 18 questions and can reach 38 decisions. A walk answers only the ones its own answers lead to. This is the whole set, for reference and for revision.
1What is being questioned?
Everything in Law 3 is about changing who the eleven are, or about someone on the field who is not one of them.
Answers: How many players, substitutes and substitution opportunities · How a substitution was made · A sending-off, and whether the player can be replaced · A goalkeeper change · Someone on the field who should not have been · A goal scored with an extra person on the field · A player who was off the field came back on
2Which number is in question?
The ceiling on substitutes is not one number: it depends on the kind of match.
Answers: The minimum number of players · Substitutes in an official competition · What counts as one substitution opportunity · Substitutes in extra time · Any other kind of match · Return substitutions and concussion substitutions
3Is the team below seven players because one or more of them deliberately left the field?
One route to fewer than seven is treated differently, because stopping play at once would reward the team that walked off.
Answers: Yes · No
4What kind of match is it?
A senior 'A' international has its numbers written into the Law. Every other match has none and the teams agree them.
Answers: A senior 'A' international team match · Any other match
5Did the teams agree a maximum, and was the referee informed before the match?
Law 3 lets any other match use more substitutes than an official competition would, on two conditions that have to be met together, and prints what happens when they are not.
Answers: Yes · No
6What about the substitution is in question?
Law 3 sets what the referee must be told, how the outgoing player leaves, how the substitute comes on, and when the change takes effect.
Answers: The referee was not informed · The player going off took too long to leave · The player going off refused to leave · How and when the substitute comes on · When the change takes effect · Any other procedural offence
7When did it happen?
Law 3 answers this the same way in both cases and writes them out separately, which is worth noticing: the substitute plays on either way and nobody is punished on the field.
Answers: A named substitute started instead of a named player · During the half-time interval or before extra time
8Did the player excessively delay the restart beyond the ten seconds?
Missing the ten seconds and excessively delaying beyond them are two different things, and only the second is a caution.
Answers: Yes · No
9Who was sent off, and when?
The team list is the dividing line before kick-off, and kick-off is the dividing line after.
Answers: A player, before the team list was submitted · A player, after being named but before kick-off · A player, after the kick-off · A named substitute, at any time
10Was the referee informed before the change, and was it made during a stoppage in play?
This is a change of places between players already on the field, not a substitution.
Answers: Yes · No
11Did the change happen at half-time, or between the end of the match and extra time?
Law 3 allows play to continue either way, and then carves an exception out of the caution for the intervals, where there is no restart to delay and nothing gained by the omission.
Answers: Yes · No
12Who came onto the field?
Who it was decides the restart, and it is the sharpest split in Law 3: everyone connected to a team on one side, everyone else on the other.
Answers: A team official, substitute, substituted or sent-off player · An outside agent · A ball going into the goal was touched, and it went in
13Was there interference with play?
Without interference the person is removed at the next stoppage and the restart is unaffected.
Answers: Yes · No
14Was there interference with play?
An unnamed club employee is an outside agent as much as a spectator is. Only the restart differs.
Answers: Yes · No
15Was the interference by the attacking team, and did it stop a defender playing?
Law 3 writes a narrow rule for a ball already on its way in, and it is generous to the attacking side in every case but one.
Answers: Yes · No
16When was it noticed, and who was the extra person?
Once play has restarted the goal cannot be disallowed at all, whoever it was.
Answers: Before the restart, someone from the scoring team · Before play restarted, an outside agent who interfered · Before the restart, someone from the conceding team · Before the restart, an outside agent who did not interfere · Only after play had restarted
17What happened?
This is a player entitled to be in the match who needed permission to come back on, after treatment or equipment.
Answers: Re-entered without permission and interfered · Re-entered without permission and interfered with nothing · They crossed a boundary line as part of a playing movement
18Did the referee stop play?
Law 3 tells the referee not to stop immediately where the player interferes with nothing, so the indirect free kick is the answer only once play has actually been stopped.
Answers: Yes · No
Every decision it can reach
Each one is where a walk ends, with the reasoning it prints. The clause behind a decision is cited on the decision itself, which you reach by walking to it.
Play may continue for now, but not past the next stoppage
If a team has fewer than seven players because one or more players has deliberately left the field of play, the referee is not obliged to stop play and the advantage may be played, but the match must not resume after the ball has gone out of play if a team does not have the minimum number of seven. The carve-out is narrow and it is about timing rather than about the threshold: it stops a team ending a passage of play by walking off, and it does not let the match go on.
The match may not start or continue
A match is played by two teams, each with a maximum of eleven players, one of whom must be the goalkeeper, and a match may not start or continue if either team has fewer than seven players. Seven is a floor rather than a target. What follows is Law 7's default rather than the competition's: an abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or organisers determine otherwise.
Up to five substitutes, in three substitution opportunities
The number of substitutes, up to a maximum of five, is determined by FIFA, the confederation or the national association. Where competition rules permit five in men's and women's competitions involving top-division first teams or senior 'A' international teams, each team has a maximum of three substitution opportunities and may additionally make substitutions at half-time. Two limits, not one, and they have different consequences: the five caps who comes on, the three caps how often play is interrupted to do it. Separately, the competition rules must state how many substitutes may be named, from three to a maximum of fifteen, which is the pool the five are used from.
One stoppage is one opportunity, however many players change
Multiple substitutions and requests by a team during the same stoppage in play count as one used substitution opportunity, and where both teams make a substitution at the same time it counts as a used opportunity for both. So a team making three changes at once has spent one of its three, and a team making them one at a time has spent all three. Half-time substitutions do not count against the total at all.
Whatever is unused carries over, and a competition may add one more
If a team has not used the maximum number of substitutes or substitution opportunities, any unused ones may be used in extra time. Where competition rules permit one additional substitute in extra time, each team has one additional substitution opportunity with it. Substitutions made between full-time and the start of extra time, and at half-time in extra time, do not count as used opportunities, which is the same treatment half-time gets in normal time.
Fifteen named, eight used, or up to eleven if both teams agree
In senior 'A' international team matches a maximum of fifteen substitutes may be named of which a maximum of eight may be used, unless the two teams agree that more may be used, up to a maximum of eleven, in which case the referee must be informed before the match. The restrictions and procedures on substitution opportunities in official competitions still apply, so the higher count does not buy more interruptions.
The agreed number stands
In all other matches a greater number of substitutes may be used provided the teams reach agreement on a maximum and the referee is informed before the match. Both conditions, and both before kick-off: an agreement reached at half-time is not one Law 3 recognises.
Six substitutes each
If the referee is not informed, or if no agreement is reached before the match, each team is allowed a maximum of six substitutes. It is a default rather than a sanction, and it applies to both teams whichever of them failed to do the informing.
Return substitutions are restricted, concussion substitutions are an option
The use of return substitutions, where a substituted player may come back on, is only permitted in youth, veterans, disability and grassroots football, and then only with the agreement of the national association, confederation or FIFA. That is why a substituted player normally takes no further part in the match. Separately, competitions may use additional permanent concussion substitutions under the protocol in Notes and modifications.
Play continues, and the substitute stays on
If a named substitute starts a match instead of a named player and the referee is not informed, the referee allows the named substitute to continue playing, no disciplinary action may be taken against them, the named player can become a named substitute, the number of substitutions is not reduced, and the referee reports the incident to the appropriate authorities. Five things, and every one of them declines to punish anyone on the field: the remedy is the report.
Play continues, and the substitute stays on
If a substitution is made during the half-time interval or before extra time, the procedure must be completed before the match restarts. If the referee is not informed, the named substitute may continue to play, no disciplinary action is taken, and the matter is reported to the appropriate authorities. The requirement is real and the sanction is a report rather than anything on the field, which is the same shape as a substitute starting in a named player's place.
Caution, and the substitute still waits a minute
The player being substituted is cautioned only if they excessively delay the restart beyond the ten seconds. Everything else still follows: they leave, the substitute may not yet enter, play restarts, the substitution cannot be cancelled nor a different substitute used, and the substitute may enter only with the referee's permission during the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed. The card is added to that rather than replacing it.
No card, and the substitute waits a minute
The player being substituted must still leave the field, the substitute may not yet enter, play restarts, and the substitution cannot be cancelled nor a different substitute used. The substitute may enter only with the referee's permission during the first stoppage after one minute has elapsed following the restart. So the team plays a man short for at least a minute, which is the whole of the sanction, and the player who was slow is not cautioned for being slow.
Play continues
If a player who is to be substituted refuses to leave, play continues. Law 3 says that and stops, so there is no free kick and no restart to award: the team simply keeps the player it has, and any misconduct in the refusal is dealt with under Law 12 on its own terms.
During a stoppage, at the halfway line, after the other player has left, on the referee's signal
The substitute only enters during a stoppage in play, at the halfway line, after the player being replaced has left, and after receiving a signal from the referee. Four conditions and all of them together. The outgoing player has their own rule: they receive the referee's permission to leave unless they are already off the field, and they leave by the nearest point on the boundary line unless the referee indicates they may leave directly and immediately at the halfway line or elsewhere, for safety, security or injury.
The moment the substitute enters the field
The substitution is completed when a substitute enters the field of play. From that moment the replaced player becomes a substituted player and the substitute becomes a player and can take any restart. That last clause settles the argument about a substitute coming on to take a corner: they may, as soon as they are on. And all substituted players and substitutes are subject to the referee's authority whether they play or not.
Caution the players, and an indirect free kick
For any other offence under the substitution procedure, the players are cautioned and play is restarted with an indirect free kick from the position of the ball when play was stopped. This is Law 3's catch-all, and it is narrower than it looks: the cases the Law writes out separately, the referee not being informed, the ten seconds, and a player refusing to leave, all have their own answers and never reach it.
Cannot be named on the team list at all
A player who is sent off before submission of the team list cannot be named on the team list in any capacity. Not as a player, not as a substitute: the sending-off happened before the team existed on paper, so the team is simply picked without them and loses nothing.
May be replaced by a named substitute, and nothing is lost
A player sent off after being named on the team list and before kick-off may be replaced by a named substitute, who cannot themselves be replaced, and the number of substitutions the team can make is not reduced. So the team starts with eleven and still has its full allocation. It is the cheapest sending-off in Law 3, and it is not free: the substitute who takes the place cannot themselves be replaced later.
Cannot be replaced
A player sent off after the kick-off cannot be replaced. This is the ordinary red card and the reason a team plays on with ten: the moment of kick-off is what turns a sending-off from an administrative matter into a numerical one.
Cannot be replaced, whenever it happened
A named substitute who is sent off before or after the kick-off may not be replaced. The team-list line that matters for players does not apply here: a substitute sent off in the warm-up is as unreplaceable as one sent off from the bench in the second half, and the team's remaining substitutes are simply one fewer.
A legal change
Any of the players may change places with the goalkeeper if the referee is informed before the change is made and the change is made during a stoppage in play. Both conditions and nothing else: there is no limit on how often it may happen, and no requirement that the outgoing goalkeeper be injured.
Play continues, and no card
If a player changes places with the goalkeeper without the referee's permission, the referee allows play to continue and cautions both players when the ball is next out of play, but not if the change occurred during half-time, including half-time of extra time, or the period between the end of the match and the start of extra time or penalties. An unannounced swap in an interval is an administrative failure rather than an on-field one.
Play continues, and both players are cautioned
If a player changes places with the goalkeeper without the referee's permission, the referee allows play to continue and cautions both players when the ball is next out of play. Both, not just the one who had the idea, and the caution waits for the next stoppage rather than interrupting play, because Law 3 declines to stop the game for it. Law 12 states the offence with both limbs: changing places with the goalkeeper during play, or without the referee's permission. They are alternatives, so a change made during play is cautionable whether or not the referee was told, and a change made without permission is cautionable whether or not play was stopped.
Direct free kick, or a penalty kick if it was inside the penalty area
If play is stopped and the interference was by a team official, substitute, substituted or sent-off player, play restarts with a direct free kick or penalty kick. A direct free kick for someone who was never entitled to be on the field is the heaviest restart Law 3 gives. It names both restarts and does not say which applies when, because Law 14 awards a penalty kick for a direct free kick offence by a player and this person is not one. Ruleside reads it the ordinary way, by location: inside the offending team's own penalty area it is a penalty kick. One thing this title does not carry: a player, sent-off player, substitute or substituted player who enters the field of play without the required permission, interferes with play or an opponent and thereby denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is guilty of a sending-off offence, so the caution becomes a red card on those facts and the restart is unchanged.
Play continues, and the person is removed at the next stoppage
The referee only stops play if there is interference with play, has the person removed when play stops, and takes appropriate disciplinary action. So someone stepping onto the field and affecting nothing does not stop the game, and the answer to it is the removal and the card rather than a restart.
Dropped ball
If play is stopped and the interference was by an outside agent, play restarts with a dropped ball. Neither team is punished, which is how it differs from the restart for a team's own people.
No goal
The provision awarding a goal despite contact carries two conditions, and this fails them: the interference was by the attacking team, or it prevented a defending player playing the ball. A team cannot benefit from its own extra person, and nobody may take a defender's chance to clear away.
Goal, if the ball entered the goal
If a ball is going into the goal and the interference does not prevent a defending player playing the ball, the goal is awarded if the ball enters the goal, even if contact was made with the ball, unless the interference was by the attacking team. The words in the middle are the surprising part: a ball that goes in off an outside agent still counts, provided no defender was stopped from playing it.
Goal disallowed: direct free kick from where the extra person was
The referee must disallow the goal if the extra person who interfered with play was a player, substitute, substituted player, sent-off player or team official of the team that scored, and play is restarted with a direct free kick from the position of the extra person. The restart is located by the person rather than by the ball, which is unusual and is the detail worth remembering.
Goal disallowed: dropped ball
The referee must disallow the goal if the extra person was an outside agent who interfered with play, unless a goal results as outlined for a ball already going into the goal, and play is restarted with a dropped ball. The exception matters: an outside agent who touches a ball already on its way in, without preventing a defender playing it, does not cost the attacking team the goal.
Goal stands
The referee must allow the goal if the extra person was a player, substitute, substituted player, sent-off player or team official of the team that conceded the goal. A team cannot save itself by putting an extra person on, and the person is still removed and still disciplined.
Goal stands
The referee must allow the goal if the extra person was an outside agent who did not interfere with play. Being on the field is not itself interference, so a spectator standing behind the goal as the ball goes in changes nothing about the goal, and in all cases the referee must have the extra person removed from the field of play.
Goal stands, whoever it was
If, after a goal is scored and play has restarted, the referee realises an extra person was on the field when the goal was scored, the goal cannot be disallowed. If the extra person is still on the field the referee must stop play, have them removed, and restart with a dropped ball or free kick as appropriate, and must report the incident to the appropriate authorities.
Caution, and a direct free kick from the position of the interference
The referee must stop play and caution the player for entering the field of play without permission, and where play is stopped it is restarted with a direct free kick from the position of the interference. Located by the interference rather than by the ball, which is the same choice Law 3 makes for a goal scored with an extra person on the field. One thing this title does not carry: a player, sent-off player, substitute or substituted player who enters the field of play without the required permission, interferes with play or an opponent and thereby denies the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity is guilty of a sending-off offence, so the caution becomes a red card on those facts and the restart is unchanged.
Caution, and an indirect free kick from where the ball was
The caution for entering the field of play without permission follows either way. Play was stopped, and where there was no interference the restart is an indirect free kick from the position of the ball when play was stopped. Law 3 puts a condition in front of that: the referee is told not to stop play immediately if the player does not interfere with play or a match official, or if the advantage can be applied, so this restart is what follows a stoppage rather than a reason for one.
Play continues, and the caution comes at the next stoppage
Law 3 prints the default first and the restart second. Where the player who re-entered does not interfere with play or with a match official, or where the advantage can be applied, the referee is told not to stop play immediately, so nothing is taken back: an attack that is running keeps running and a goal scored while it does stands. The caution for entering the field of play without the referee's permission is still owed and is shown at the next stoppage. The indirect free kick from the position of the ball belongs to the other branch, where the referee did stop play.
No offence
A player who crosses a boundary line as part of a playing movement does not commit an offence. That is a whole clause of Law 3 and it protects the ordinary business of the game: a winger carried over the touchline by momentum, a defender who follows a clearance out and comes straight back, a player who runs behind the goal to keep a ball in. None of them needs permission to return.