Question Number: 24000

Law 13 - Free Kicks 9/23/2010

RE: high school girls in ohio Adult

paula zets of Berlin Center, OHIO US asks...

There was dangerous play called in the box. An indirect kick was called for by the refs. One girl touched it, made a small pass, the other girl kicked it in. The ref called it a goal at first. Then the ref and the other ref got together and both said the girls did not make a pass first and so it was a direct kick. We have it on tape - the actual pass then the kick at the goal. The next day in the paper it said that the refs said the pass had to be at least one revolution( also shown in the video that it was). Is that a rule for girl's high school soccer in Ohio? The ball has to go around one revolution? The way we all understood it was that the ball only had to be touched by another player. This ball rolled about 3 feet while passed to the shooter. thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Paula
The ball is in play when it is kicked and moves. There is no requirement for the ball to roll one revolution which was part of the Laws many many years ago.
So from what you describe the ball was properly put into play and the goal should have counted.
Also the NHFS rule book states that failure to kick the ball as specified at a free kick shall result in a retake.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

About 12 years ago, if my memory serves me correctly, there was a requirement that the ball rotate a full revolution at a free kick before it's considered to be in play.

Since then, it's been a simple case of 'kicked and moves'.

While I'm not entirely certain, I would imagine the law change may be due to the obvious difficulties in determining precisely how far the ball has rolled in order to judge whether it's been kicked.

I would advise informing the relevant authorities of this error by the referee - and also inform the authorities that this incorrect application of the law has also been written in the newspaper after discussion with the referee.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Dangerous play = IDFK restart. So far, so good, but now the ref team drops the ball! Well, not literally, of course, but the ball is in play when it is kicked (with the foot) and moves (no particular distance, just from one spot to another spot), so whoever decided it had to roll it's circumference has NOT updated their soccer knowledge in some time. Tsk.

At least the mistake was published in the newspaper (not something referees look forward to, I might add). Depending on your high school administrative body, some action might be taken regarding the outcome of the game. At any rate, I would DEFINITELY get in touch with the high school ref assignor and let them know what happened and send them a copy of the news article so some much needed refresher training can take place for the referee team.