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- Soccer Referee Questions on Soccer Rules
WELCOME to AskTheRef.com, a Soccer Law/Rules Question & Answer site!
Operating since October 11, 1999, that is 25 years as an independent, FREE, public service site. Dedicated to personally answering your questions regarding any Professional or Grassroots, FIFA, College, High school, or Youth soccer game situation. To ask a question simply click on Ask the Ref in the menu bar, post your question!
Please understand, we are comprised of strictly volunteers, thus lack the time required to review or alter the hundreds of thousands of previous questions & answers. The LOTG /RULES are constantly being tweaked, reevaluated and rewritten each year, often rendering previous answers as incorrect, partially true and/or portions no longer applicable! Our answers can only coincide within the changing LOTG/RULES time/frame of the date a question was asked! We feel it is essential you review & read the latest version of the always changing Laws/Rules of the Game.
The IFAB 2024 - 2025 LOTG Laws of the Game can be viewed here:
https://www.theifab.com/
The USA Highschool rules can be viewed here:
https://nfhs.org/nfhs-for-you/officials/
The NCAA rules can be viewed here:
Soccer Rules of the Game - NCAA.org
Those who have ideas or articles please feel free to contact the editor Richard Dawson at mrref@asktheref.com with suggestions. There are no costs involved to ask or have us respond to a question but we are not upset if you wished to donate or sponsor on the site as in todays world it is difficult to operate independently.
 You Call It!
After two years and many request - You Call It is back! Now it's your turn to test your knowledge in a scenario created by our panel of referees. If your answer is spot on we will publish it on our site! Good luck click here!
High School 5/10/2025RE: HS High School Jay LaFountain of Coldwater, MI USA asks...Recently, IFAB introduced impeding with contact. This has led to high school referees talking about impeding with contact as if it's a thing in high school soccer. However, I have looked at the rulebook and it is written like the old IFAB rules, where impeding is without contact and if there IS contact, you should call the contact foul, whether a charge or a pull or a push or whatever the contact is, as ALL contact fouls result in a DFK. However, some referees have started calling impeding with contact in HS soccer a IDFK. Have you guys heard about this, and what's your call under HS rules when a player is impeding with contact? IDFK or DFK? ...
Read The Full Q & A Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/2/2025Crebs Crem of Zagreb , Croatia asks...Hi,
My questions is about goalkeeper's handling the ball for the second time after the ball was released into play.
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The attacking team crosses the ball into goal area, the goalkeeper slaps the ball outside the penalty area, chases the ball, starts to dribble back towards his/her own penalty area before nobody else touches the ball and the goalkeeper picks the ball. In this scenario, will indirect free-kick be awarded to the attacking team? ...
Read The Full Q & A Law 3 - The Players 5/1/2025RE: Rec Adult A. Povi of The villages, Fl USA asks...Can we put our #9 in goal to defend a penalty. Then immediatly change their positions back at the restart?
...
Read The Full Q & A Law 11 - Offside 4/29/2025RE: Competitive Under 19 David of LAKE WORTH, FL United States asks...A player from team A is in an offside position. A pass is played directly to this player from within a group of players from both team A and team B. Neither the ARs or the center referee knows for sure which team played the ball to the player in an offside position. Is the player assumed to have committed an offside offense for receiving the ball from a teammate, or is no offside offense called because the ball could have been played by a defender and we don't call fouls unless we know we saw one?...
Read The Full Q & A Law 11 - Offside 4/28/2025RE: Rec Adult Doug Crawford of Folsom, CA United States asks...Hi there- in his answer to this question about the offside player, Richard Dawson says "Yes the holding occurred, but it was adjudged as -after- the PIOP was identified as being restricted."
The description of the PIOP as restricted makes a lot of sense to me:
Step 1 - attacking player in an offside position.
Step 2 - play by a teammate of the attacker, therefore this player is RESTRICTED.
Step 3 - PIOP becomes involved by playing the ball, interfering with a defender, or gains an advantage.
(the restriction lasts until it goes away, such as by another attacking teammate playing the ball, defender deliberately playing the ball, ball out of play)
However, I have never seen this restricted adjective for...
Read The Full Q & A Law 14 - The Penalty kick 4/23/2025RE: Competitive Under 12 Soccer Mom of Saratoga Springs, UT United States asks...Team 2 was awarded a penalty due to a foul in the box. Everyone was set up for the penalty. After the whistle a girl from Team 2 ran up to take the penalty then ran over the bill without touching it. Another play on the team then ran up to take the penalty and she scored.
Team 1 keeper started to dive with the first runner, and the second player scored in the opposite direction.
The ref called the penalty illegal and had them retake it. Goalie saved the second attempt.
Was the illegal penalty the right call? Should they have gotten a re-try?...
Read The Full Q & A Law 11 - Offside 4/23/2025RE: Comp. Under 19 Larry of Danville, CA United States asks...Im having a minor debate with a fellow referee and am interested in your insight. Does an attempt to play a ball that should be easily controlled by a defender, but who doesn't actually touch the ball, reset offside? The actual play was as follows: There is a long pass from an attacker towards a player in an offside position. A defender has time and space to intercept the pass but simply takes a swing at it and misses completely. The ball continues to the player in an offside position, who then becomes involved in play....
Read The Full Q & A Law 17 - The Corner Kick 4/16/2025RE: Rec Adult Andrew Bower of Worksop, Nottinghamshire United Kingdom asks...For a corner tha law states the ball should be in the corner area. If in modern play the ball is only touching or bisecting the line isn't that out of the area in the same way as a ball not wholly in the goal( not OVER the line) is not a goal because it is not in the area designated as the goal....
Read The Full Q & A Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/15/2025RE: 5 Adult Dima of Saanich, B.C. Canada asks...The attacker with the ball tries to take the ball to his left being the right of the defender opposite him . He loses or passes around me the ball to the right and the defender's momentum also went to that direction but he fell into a split with left foot to his side. The opponent meanwhile went or shifted to his right , the opposite side from the ball and trips on the defender's left foot. at that point the ball is not in possession of the attacker according to the 3ft rule. Is that still a foul by the defender according to law 12?
It was not an intentional trip, as the defenders momentum and body position were directed toward the side of the ball. The attacker had shifted to the opposite side, away from the ball, and made c...
Read The Full Q & A Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/13/2025RE: Competitive Under 16 Matt of Portland , OR US asks...Hello. I really need your insight into whether this constituted a foul. It ended up costing us a game last night. Heres the scenario. Attacking forward has a clear line to goal and is running 100% and is now in the penalty box. Defender is running full speed at an angle to block or make a tackle. Forward is in the process of taking a shot when defender lunges in front of the ball and gets his foot planted (not contact yet with the ball). The ball ricocheted off defenders foot but also ends up tripping the shooter and causing also a severe body collision. Shooter had to come off due to injury.
Thank you for your wisdom!...
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