Question Number: 18599

Law 13 - Free Kicks 3/23/2008

RE: Rec Adult

Art Pieterman of London, Ontario Canada asks...

Watching the Arsenal game today, I was happy to see the ref caution #27 Eboue for failing to respect the required distance, especially after the ref set up the wall. In this case for those who did not see the game, the whistle was blown, but before Chelsea took the kick, #27 Eboue of Arsenal ran forward and was able to block the shot.

My question is this; what if Eboue did not block the shot? In my eyes, he is then still failing to respect the distance, so he needs to be cautioned, but I guess my question is actually the mechanics of the situation. Do you whistle the play down before the result of the free kick is known, especially if there is a chance to score off the kick, like the situation today? Or do you let play continue, and then caution #27 at the next stoppage of play? My concern is that even though he did not block the shot, he is still distracting the player taking the kick and could have thrown him off of his kick, and instead of the shot being on net, it goes over the net. Do you allow the kick to be retaken at that point?

Thanks,

Art

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You don't do anything if there's a possibility of a score. If it goes out of play you caution. If it doesn't go out of play, you blow your whistle unless there's another real opportunity to score. You don't have to wait for what people call a "natural" stoppage. The ball goes out of play when it crosses over the goal or touch lines or when the referee stops play. All are quite "natural".

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Did Eboue affect the free kick? The referee thought so... How did Eboue affect the free kick? He violated the trust given him in the Laws. Trust?

Yup, trust -- he is trusted to retire the required distance and remain there until the free kick is kicked and moves. He charged down a supposedly free kick and intercepted it. Oops.

Law 13 makes the statement in the infringements/sanctions section "the kick is retaken". Law 12 tells the referee to caution and show the yellow card to a player who fails to respect the required distance.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

On a restart if there is a failure to respect distance I delay the whistle to see if the restart is advantsgous to the team taking it. I mean if the ball hit the charging player and deflected into the goal and I had blown the whistle too early, I wind up pulling back the goal, we must restart the free kick and I must caution the player as he has violated the restart. If the free kick does not take place because the kicker sees the player charge in and that stops the free kick then I must caution the charging player for delaying the restart.
Cheers