Question Number: 24772

Law 13 - Free Kicks 4/4/2011

RE: Competitive Under 15

Alan Lands of Linwood, NJ Atlantic asks...

This question is a follow up to question 23252

I'd like to ask a follow up to the response given by Keith Contarino. You stated that on a free kick if the wall encroaches and does not maintain the 10 yards and 'interferes' with the kick, the referee can declare a foul and show a yellow card. Here the referee would award a re-kick to the attacking team. My questions is what constitutes 'interference?' If the kick is indirect inside the PK area or direct just outside the PK area, and the ball does not touch any defensive player on the wall, can there be interference. In my opinion if the kicker at the last second changes the angle or aim of his kick to chip over the encroaching wall or kick around the wall that would be interference even if a body in the wall doesn't actually touch the ball. Please comment. thanks

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I didn't think I said this and rechecked the answer and I did not say the referee could declare a 'foul'. Failure to respect the required distance is not a foul. It's misconduct, which is what I said when I had the referee caution and card the opponents.

Your question is a good one. Can there be interference with no contact? yes and your example is spot on. The opponents made the kicker alter the trajectory of his kick by moving towards the kicker. Even though they did not touch the ball they interfered with the kick and you can order a retake and issue a caution.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alan
It is up to the referee to decide what is interference in these scenarios. Anything that interferes with what is intended by the kicker is interference. However the referee has to decide if the kick happened as intended. Most player on a QFK expect that the ball must clear the players that are in front of the ball. If they are simply standing there and the kick is poorly executed then the player must accept the outcome. That is why a knowledge of the game is helpful so that determination can be made.