Question:
I’ve had a number of matches recently where players have had their shinguards fall out of their socks. These are the shinguards that just slip into the socks. I’m looking for a little guidance on how to deal with this as play continues. My guess is I can deal with an advantage situation for the team that didn’t lose the shinguards and immediately whistle (resulting in a dropped ball restart) if a player who loses his shinguards has an advantage. In my game yesterday, when a player lost his shinguards for the second time, I told him if it happened again I was going to send him off until he could figure out how to keep his shinguards on. When it happened again, he immediately stopped playing the ball and retrieved his shinguards (which I thought was a good solution and I told him this). This actually happened more than once after that, and he always retrieved his shinguards first.
Answer (June 6, 2007):
Safety of the competitors is the most important element of the game. Shinguards are a required item of player equipment and are meant solely for player safety. If the player is not wearing the shinguard(s), he or she is not properly dressed and should not be allowed to play until properly equipped. Under the Law, the player should be sent from the field temporarily to repair the condition. At less-skilled levels of play, your method should work fine, as long as you are able to monitor it and the other elements of the game at the same time.
