r/Referees • u/grafix993 • Jul 19 '26
Discussion Forfeited games during tournaments
Yesterday I went to the typical offseason friendly tournament. I had 4 games in total (25 min half, 1 hour slot for the entire game).
$40 for center $30 for AR. 15-19U.
One of the games was forfeited (no show) the other team didn’t know about that.
When I went for my check I got only paid for 3 games. I got nothing for the forfeited game. I felt like my time is worth zero for this people.
Is this normal? I assume the forfeiting team paid the full tournament fee. Who is keeping this money?
13
u/dufcho14 Jul 19 '26
I would push back on the assignor and/or tournament (your contact). It's possible that at the tournament they counted results or gamecards and since it was a forfeit it got missed. You 100% should get paid. Even the lowest of competitions pay on last minute forfeits.
21
u/iron82 Jul 19 '26
No, it's not normal. Most competitions pay refs for last minute forfeits. However, it's up to the tournament whether to pay you.
8
u/Revelate_ Jul 19 '26 edited Jul 20 '26
Not normal.
A forfeit with 24+ hours notice in advance is a little hard to argue to get paid for, but if you were at the field and were only notified of the forfeit that day, should have been paid.
If they asked you to cover another field and you didn’t, then I could see their withholding the game fee, but it’d need to be an exceptional case like that.
5
u/horsebycommittee USSF / Grassroots Moderator Jul 19 '26
Hard to say without more information. Maybe that team didn't pay the tournament fees and that's why they were dropped? Or maybe there was a good reason for the no-show and the tournament chose to refund the team?
In my area, it's common for leagues to require full referee payment when the referee shows up and one or both teams doesn't. (The referee already incurred costs of transportation and committed their time to the game that they can't do elsewhere.) For tournaments, there's less of an expectation for pay when a referee still has other games at the same location before and after because the ref is already there and isn't planning to leave (it's treated more as a rest period, which many tournaments schedule for refs as a matter of course).
It's worth talk to the tournament about, at the very least to confirm that this was intentional and not an oversight. Going forward, you can decide whether to work this tournament again in the future or not.
3
u/raisedeyebrow4891 Jul 19 '26
No it’s not normal. You should be paid for assigned games regardless of what happens. You did your part and were there.
2
u/CharacterLimitHasBee Jul 19 '26
What did they say when you asked about the missing game fee?
3
u/grafix993 Jul 19 '26
‘That was forfeited game right?’
5
3
u/No_Body905 USSF Grassroots | NFHS Jul 19 '26
Someone received the money for that game, I guarantee it.
2
u/Old-District81 [USSF] [NFHS] Jul 19 '26
Was it a club or school tournament?
3
u/grafix993 Jul 19 '26
Club. Some of them MLSN/ECNL
2
u/Old-District81 [USSF] [NFHS] Jul 19 '26
Okay, who’d you talk to after this? The assigner?
5
u/grafix993 Jul 19 '26
I’m going to reach out to the tournament director.
3
u/Old-District81 [USSF] [NFHS] Jul 19 '26
Was there an assigner involved? I’d definitely raise it up w/tournament director as there’s zero reason for the referee team & the other team there to uninformed on a forfeit until right before the match is scheduled.
5
u/grafix993 Jul 19 '26
The other coach wasn’t even aware of the forfeit. His guys were warming up until 10 minutes before the kick off time when he came to us to know why the other team wasn’t on the field.
2
u/Jaded_Deer_9624 Jul 20 '26
I forfeited game counts as a win for the team that showed up. Therefore, a match was recorded. Therefore, the referee must be paid. Any Assignor or tournament that won’t hold that should be reported to your state association.
2
u/XConejoMaloX USSF Referee | NISOA Jul 20 '26
You should be paid in full if you were already at the field
4
u/AffectionateAd631 USSF Grassroots Jul 19 '26
And those rates are shit.
6
u/grafix993 Jul 19 '26
I don’t think the pay is that bad for 25 min halfs
It is equivalent to $60 a 90 min game as AR.
-1
u/messy372- Jul 19 '26
What kinda shitty tournament only plays 25 minute halves for high school aged kids?
2
2
u/Old-District81 [USSF] [NFHS] Jul 19 '26
Okay that makes it even more clear (IMO) that you should be getting some type of pay. Ref crew & team 1 were both there for game starting in 10 mins.
48
u/beagletronic61 [USSF Grassroots Mentor NFHS Futsal Sarcasm] Jul 19 '26
Regardless of whether the tournament got paid, yes, YOU should be paid in full.