Question Number: 30623

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 7/20/2016

RE: Competive Adult

Cindy Verne of Placentia, CA usa asks...

After a foul when does the referee have to restart the game with there whistle and when can you that the kick without the referee blowing there whistle

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Cindy
The whistle to restart at a free kick is only required when the referee has intervened to caution /send off a player, speak with a player when he has moved him from his restart position, enforce the ten yards, after a substitution or after an injured player has been removed from the field of play. At regular free kicks not involving any of the above a whistle is not required.
Now sometimes a referee may not whistle to restart in those instances either because he has forgot or the team just gets on with play when both teams are ready. There is nothing in law to say that it is an error. Many times teams can accept the kick as a signal of the restart like in other free kicks. However on a scoring free kick with the distance being enforced the opponents will be extremely irate when there is no whistle. In those cases the referee MUST use the whistle and it is a retake if the kick happens before the signal. The referee should inform the kicker that it is on the whistle so as to prevent the kick from happening.
A whistle is compulsory at a penalty kick.