Question Number: 25273

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/1/2011

RE: School Division 1, Under 15 Under 15

Ethan Ryan of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

Hello,
I was playing in a game recently where a IFK was given for a backpass, in the penalty area, less than 9.15 meters from the goal line, to the yellow team. As the Yellow team set up, Black lined up with a wall on the Goal-line.

It was clear that the Yellow team were going to tap the ball then take a shot. So some of the black team decided to run in and yell once the tap was made.

Once the kick was take the ball went over the cross bar the ref said that the kick would be retaken, due to the distracting, yelling. 'It's not war games' He said.

Yellow scored off the retaken kick.

But regardless of the result of the retaken kick, did the referee do the right thing? I assume that if the goal was scored the kick would have no need to be retaken, hence the reason he waited for the result of the kick.

Yelling doesn't seem sportsmanlike, but I can't see anything in the rules preventing it.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Not quite correct. Someone should have been cautioned.

In the Laws of the Game (p. 117 2011-12) one reason given for a caution for unsporting behavior is, 'verbally distracts an opponent during play or at a restart'.

The ball was tapped - I presume and moved - so it was in play by the time the shouting occurred. Since play would have been stopped to issue a caution, the restart would have been another IFK, from the spot of the shouting. If that was inside the goal area, the kick would be moved the nearest point on the 6 yard line. Again the wall would have to be on the goal line because there is not enough room for a 10-yard distance.

The ref was correct to watch for the result of the kick. If a goal had been scored, he would have applied advantage and allowed the goal - and hopefully express his extreme dissatisfaction with the unsporting behavior exhibited by the screamers.

If the referee wished to stop play only to yell at the offenders, play would have to be restarted with a dropped ball. That's because there is no restart given in the Laws for a referee-yelling stoppage.

Of course the wise referee could simply have seen that the wall crashed in too early, and have the original free kick retaken.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ethan
The Law of the Game allow for the referee to caution a player for verbally distracting an opponent during play or at a restart. As you say the yelling to distract an opponent is unsporting behaviour. The restart after the caution is either a retake if the offence happened before the ball is in play or an IDFK from where the offence took place if the ball is in play.
In this situation the referee was nearly correct. He should have cautioned a player for the yelling and then restarted with the retake. He could also have moved the free kick on to the point of the infringement if the yelling happened when the ball was in play

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You say black ran up yelling after the ball was
put in play. The referee waited to see if a
goal was scored. It wasnt. He should not
have issued a retake. There should have
been a caution and while the restart is another
idfk from the 6, it's not a retake, it's a new
idfk for unsporting behavior

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The whole purpose of the yelling was unsporting, as it was meant to unfairly distract the kicker and/or his teammate - and it was successful and it occurred after the ball was in play. The referee was correct that this is not allowed - and not everything that is unsporting is listed in the LOTG. The referee is expected to know what UB is and punish it when it happens.
What I don't quite understand is why a caution was not issued to somebody who yelled on the Black team. The yelling is UB misconduct, and the restart for play stopped to issue the caution is an IDFK, absent some other DFK offense being the reason for the stoppage. This is not a retake, it is a new kick from wherever whomsoever was cautioned. Since this would have been inside the defending goal area, the IDFK would be taken from the top of the goal area line closest to the spot where the incident occurred. The Black defenders would have to be 10 yards away or standing on the goal line in between the goal posts.

If this same UB happened before the kick was taken and the referee held up the kick to deal with the UB, then we retake the kick. If the referee allowed the kick to go forward and it scored, restart is a kick-off. If it did not, the restart is also a retake, since the misconduct occurred before the ball was put into play.

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