Question Number: 25562

Law 13 - Free Kicks 10/6/2011

RE: Youth Under 19

Dave of Santa Monica, CA USA asks...

During a tournament, I refereed a Boys U10 semifinal game (7 players per side). Because my prior game went into overtime and was decided by KFTPM, I arrived at the BU10 field at the time the game was supposed to start.

As I quickly took the field, I was astonished how small the pitch was. We later paced it off as 48 yards in length, 30 yards in width.

During a free kick, the attackers asked for the defenders to retreat. I blew my whistle, and started marching off the yardage. But I realized if I marched off ten full yards, I was going to be making the defenders set up a full fifth of the field away. I'm a big believer in the theory that the fouling team has no rights, but it just felt ridiculous to be marching off so much territory on a tiny field.

So I set the wall at 7 yards instead of 10. One coach complained, and I told him I wasn't going to march off ten yards in a field that was only 40 something yards in total length.

Obviously, this isn't in accord with the LOTG, but is there wiggle room there? I think if I had been able to arrive at the field earlier, I could have discussed this with the tournament director, field marshal, and coaches, and thus eased any tension. But, again, my previous game precluded that.

So my question: what would you have done? Should I have insisted on a ten-yard buffer despite the tiny size of the pitch?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Don't think I've ever seen that small a field. The 10 yards is what you say it is. As long as you're consistent, who cares if it's 7 or 8 or 10? The LOTG don't plan for 48 yard fields so I have a hard time faulting your rationale. The penalty spot wasn't 12 yards on your field was it? The 6 yard line was probably 4 yards so a 7 yard distance to give on a free kick seems like a common sense approach.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dave
It is usual that there is a local rule covering this matter. In small sided games it is never 10 yards. Indeed the FA Laws on Small Sided only require players to retreat 1 metre which means that they don't encourage shots at goal from free kicks. In my Leagues the rule is 5 yards. In Futsal it is 5 yards in the adult game
In the absence of a rule common sense has to be used which you did.
BTW the dimension here are in line roughly with the FA advice.
For 7 a side football the following dimensions are recommended
Length:
minimum 50m
maximum 60m
Width:
minimum 30m
maximum 40m

The focus is on skill development, passing, dribbling etc

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

I also think you did well. As Ref McHugh notes, small sided fields often come with league rules for shorter distances on free kicks.

My experience is that they also then mark the center circles based on the modified distance. If the center circle is 8 yards in radius, that's what is intended to be the distance on any other form of free kick.