Question Number: 28339

Law 16 - Goal Kick 4/14/2014

RE: Competitive Adult

Amy Lloyd of Portland, Oregon USofA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 27779

While discussing with colleagues in the calm and cool confines of an establishment dispensing dk bitters, after a gruelling and windy day, conversation turned to matters of law, one of which was:

'Must the ball always need to be stationary for a correctly taken goal kick from within the goal area as per the written law?'

In one of the answers, there was 'However if the ball is moving then the player may not play a moving ball at a goal kick. The kick is retaken.'

Law 16 does not specify the goal kick requirements, except that the ball must be kicked from within the goal area.

The other direct and indirect free kicks, including kick-off, penalty kick, have clear definitions and are enforceable. Corner kick and goal kick are not specified as free kicks, to our blurry eyes. However, by convention, and similar to kick-off and penalty kick, since a goal may be scored, it could be ***assumed*** that they are direct free kicks. In free kicks (law 13) '... ball must be stationary' is clear. I reckon sometime in 1869 or after is when the goal kick was defined in the laws, and only an implied reference that the goal kick and corner kick are direct kick restarts in contemporary law book (FIFA). Guidance and counsel from your experiences will be most helpful.

Would it ever be considered trifling to have the ball moving during a goal kick? Extremely windy situations, a very quick restart, youth leagues, ..?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Amy
The referee has always the discretion to treat any infringement as 'trifling'. At a goal kick if the ball is trickling then that can be deemed 'trifling' and ignored.
Have I allowed a moving ball to be taken at a goal kick or for that matter a free kick? Yes where I deemed that the movement was indiscernible and therefore had little or no effect on play. Teams that usually shout for these have either switched off or are too lazy to follow play.
If the ball is bouncing or rolling then I would always go with a retake and the kicking team will have little gripe when the kick is pulled back for a retake.
So on all kicked restart the ball should be stationary. With the exception of a penalty kick or a free kick in a scoring position small movement at other kicks can be ignored as 'trifling'.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

When fine drink leads to finer arguments about the LOTG, it can be helpful to understand how the framers of the laws craft their brew. They remove words that 'everyone knows' to keep the 17 laws short and simple. So, the absence of the words in law 16 (and for penalty kicks and corner kicks) means only that everyone knows that the ball must be stationary.

The legal purist can state that under law 13, the ball must be stationary at every free kick and a PK, GK, and CK are a form of free kick. I prefer to note that by tradition, the ball must be stationary for these restarts.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 28415