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Law 5 - The Referee

Law 5 of the IFAB Laws of the Game (2026/27 edition) establishes the referee's full authority, the finality of decisions on facts of play, the narrow conditions for changing a decision, and the referee's powers and duties including advantage, discipline and video review.

Why this wins its question: The exact boundary of when a referee can and cannot reverse a decision is regularly misstated; claims here bind the 2026/27 IFAB text of Law 5, cross-bound to the VAR protocol for the review exception.

Claims

Every assertion below is bound to registered sources and carries its own confidence. Weight them; do not treat the page as uniformly authoritative.

  1. Each match is controlled by a referee who has full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match. Decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.

    confidence 0.97Law 5 — The Referee (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  2. The referee may not change a restart decision on realising it is incorrect, or on the advice of another match official, if play has restarted or the referee has signalled the end of the first or second half (including extra time) and left the field of play, or has terminated the match.

    confidence 0.93Law 5 — The Referee (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  3. The referee allows play to continue (advantage) when an offence occurs and the non-offending team benefits from the advantage, and penalises the offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue within a few seconds.

    confidence 0.95Law 5 — The Referee (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  4. The referee acts as timekeeper, keeps a record of the match, supervises restarts, and takes disciplinary action against players guilty of cautionable and sending-off offences.

    confidence 0.95Law 5 — The Referee (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  5. The referee may be assisted by a video assistant referee only in the event of a clear and obvious error or a serious missed incident within the reviewable categories of the VAR protocol, and always takes the final decision.

    confidence 0.95Law 5 — The Referee (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primaryVideo Assistant Referee (VAR) protocol (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary

  6. New in 2026/27: an injured player who receives on-field treatment must leave the field and may not return until one minute after play has restarted, with limited exceptions; and competitions may permit referee body cameras where the organiser supplies the cameras and controls the footage.

    confidence 0.9Law changes 2026/27 — changes and clarifications (IFAB) · primary

  7. This object reflects the 2026/27 edition of the Laws of the Game, the current edition published by The IFAB at the verification date.

    confidence 0.98IFAB Laws of the Game — editions index (current edition 2026/27) · primaryLaw 5 — The Referee (Laws of the Game 2026/27) · primary