Question Number: 30132

Law 13 - Free Kicks 2/22/2016

RE: Under 17

Sahil of New delhi, Delhi India asks...

Why do professional players sometimes take freekick from a point 3 m ahead of the point of foul? Also why do they take a throw in 3-4 m away from the point where it went out? (in UCL LA LIGA matches)
Is it permissible or it is a violation of game rules?
If it is an offence what should the refree do after the kick has been taken?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sahil
Many of these decisions are seen as trifling and the opponents show no concern so neither does the referee. You will also see quite a lot of advantage played at this level along with minor fouls maybe being ignored.
A frequent question has to be asked is whose game is it? If both teams are none too bothered about matters that they see as trifling then should the referee be concerned? Put it another way. Have you ever seen a penalty decision right on the line go unchallenged as to the exact location which can be inches. I can assure you that when it does make a difference it is always hotly contested as to the location of the foul or the restart. Same applies to throw ins. Teams that have a long thrown in expert are always challenged about the TI location as it does make a difference. If it is just a restart that ends up in multiple passes around midfield teams are never too bothered as it makes little difference to play. Some teams do not say want to commit players deep in the corners so they do not get too excited about TIs being taken yards away from the correct spot.
Pro teams and high level teams dont sweat the small stuff. That makes it difficult for the grassroots referee as at that level it generally can.
If a kick is taken from the wrong place the kick is retaken. I watched a referee recently in the EPL ask for a free kick to be retaken as it was not from the correct spot. The retake was also not taken from the location of the foul and had the referee insisted on another retake he would have been berated for doing so. As both starts were a short pass of some 4/ 5 yards it was trifling IMO. Certainly the opponents were not bothered to intervene and the referee probably said afterwards to himself why did he bother or sometimes why did he even stop play when all that happened was a exact continuation of play which happened before the whistle stopped play.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Sahil,
restart locations are described in the LOTG as to be taken in a definite area or spot. A question of trifling or dubious distinction is does the practicality of not exactly matching that criteria have any obvious impact on the match? The greater the chance the restart has of having an impact on the outcome the greater the need to adhere to the exacting standards of the LOTG. We call these blade of grass restarts much like a PK it MUST occur on the spot where the LOTG SAY it must be taken from. Generally the greater the chance to score the greater the need to have the ball placed correctly!

An example of a restart location given wide latitude is an INDFK awarded for an offside . I have seen them 30 plus yds away from the actual spot they were by law supposed to be taken from. On a throw in the LOTG state from where it exited the FOP we allow a yard or so either way but sometimes the throw occurs 5 , 10 or 15 yards away with no noticable impact and is permitted to play on!

As my colleague Ref McHugh sagely points out of the teams are ok with it and there is no great impact restarts are given a wide lattitude. However ANY restart if taken in the wrong place can be pulled up by the referee and retaken if they create an issue.

On goal kicks or INDFK out of the goal area the ball can be placed ANYWHERE inside the goal area but no AR will allow that ball to be placed OUTSIDE the goal area even a little bit just as no ball is in play until it leaves the PA after the goal kick. The LOTG must be adhered to. Same as a corner kick ball must be within or on that ARC. No AR or Cr will allow a ball to be placed that does not fit the LOTG criteria.

The restart on fouls given we permit quick restarts so as not to reward the offending team time to recover I have seen some iffy restart location of tremendous advantage in they were a long way away from the spot of foul as the defenders were gathered in the fouled area trying to recover. Then again seen the ball placed exactly 1/4 inch outside the PA borderline for a DFK that was not a PK .

In cases where a throw in restart occurred that is taken from an incorrect position the ONLY restart option is to award the throw from the correct spot to the opposition. On restarts for free kicks taken from a wrong spot we simply have it retaken by the same team. If this was a persistent theme to waste time a caution might be plausible just unusual.
Cheers