Question Number: 25306

Law 13 - Free Kicks 8/14/2011

RE: 7 Adult

RAYMOND BUCKLEY of WALLASEY, MERSEYSIDE United Kingdom asks...

Why is it, that when a free kick is awarded to the attacking team in the penalty area, the ball can be played to an opponent in the area. When the defending side have a free kick in the area, the ball MUST leave the penalty area or the kick is retaken? It is after all a FREE kick, but the defender is not given the option of playing it to his goalkeeper or another defender?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Raymond
A good point and its origins no doubt is in the history of the game where order needed to be brought to restarts such as goal kicks and defensive free kicks by clearing the penalty area of players other than the kicker and/or the GK. Clearly that is not possible on attacking restarts

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

In today's game, if the ball was deliberately kicked back to the keeper on a free kick, the result would be an indirect free kick for the other side.

Look at it this way - it is an advantage for the attacking team to be able to take the free kick (indirect) inside the penalty area because it is a scoring opportunity. But that is not true on the reverse. The defense deserves a chance to get the ball back into play from their free kick, and so the Law gives them some free space. Besides, the defense would not want to run the risk of scoring on themselves from a free kick inside their own PA which touched a teammate and then scored. Having the ball have to exit the PA to be in play adds a layer of fairness.