Question Number: 12008

Law 16 - Goal Kick 12/30/2005

RE: rec Under 19

Darryl Whitley of Yucca Valley, Ca USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 22

Can a player/teammate who recieves a goal kick directly from a teammate/player, be called for offside? I know, that when taking a goal kick, this kick is a direct free kick, and you could score a goal, but, a team taking a goal kick can't score against itself! So can you be offside like any other free kick?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Law 11 states there can be no offside if the ball is directly received from a goal kick, corner kick, or throw-in. So, no offside. You can't score against yourself on ANY restart and any free kick coming out of your own penalty area is not even in play until it leaves the penalty area so not only can you not score on yourself but if you happen to knock a goal kick into your own net, the restart is a retake of the goal kick. You are correct that at any other free kick other than kick-off or PK, you may be offside.

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Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

A goal kick is not a direct free kick, it is a goal kick. Law 16 allows a goal to be scored directly from a goal kick but only against the opposing team.

Regards,

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Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

You cannot be offside directly from a goal kick. A goal kick is not a direct free kick because it is a restart from a "natural" stoppage in play -- the ball has gone out of play over the defending team's goal line (not between the goalposts/under the crossbar), last touched by a member of the attacking team. A direct free kick is the restart when play was stopped because the referee decided somebody on one team committed a foul. The ball is "given" to the offended team as a kind of appeasement, if you will, for having offence committed against them.

While the DFK and a goal kick appear to be the same, their origins are very different; and therefore fall under two different Laws which define them separately.

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