Question Number: 30782

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/18/2016

RE: Local league Adult

Sarah Fuller of Bedford, Beds England asks...

This question is a follow up to question 26042

I was punished as a centre back with an indirect free kick for saying to my back line 'step, leave them in' when I wanted them to get out quickly to play the offside trap when our gk cleared the ball. Was this the correct call from the ref?

I tried to explain to him what I said, but he wasn't having any of it.

This has never been penalised before and wondered if it was part of the new rules for this season?

Sarah

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sarah
There is no new change here in the Laws. Players are allowed to communicate between each other as before and to give instructions, look for the ball etc. What is not allowed, which has not changed, is the unsporting behaviour of verbally distracting an opponent at a restart or during play. An example would be shouting MISS IT at an opponent at a penalty kick or deliberately shouting LEAVE IT at an opponent who obliges by not playing the ball. In both instances it is a caution for USB and an IDFK restart.
Now it reads to me that the referee here was in error. If there was no caution there is no IDFK. The caution is the test of the offence. Should a referee caution for the instruction given here which might distract opponents ? The answer to that would be in my opinion no.
As an anecdote I once had a very senior official as an AR and he took exception to a player that was constantly shouting for the ball, giving instructions close to him. At half time he asked me to award an IDFK for the next shout as it was annoying him to which I told him no. I could only do that if it was USB which it wasnt.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Sarah,

In terms of the kind of utterance you describe, it is only an offence if it distracts an opponent. There has been no recent change in regard to this part of the law. Also, even if there is verbal distraction, it is incorrect in law to award only an indirect free kick for this. The correct punishment, if the referee decides an opponent was verbally distracted, is to caution the player. Then, but only if play was stopped to administer the caution, play restarts with an IFK to the opponent.

So it sounds to me that, assuming your description is accurate, you may have been a little unfairly treated here. Firstly, it does not appear that your instructions to your team mates would have distracted any of your opponents and secondly, even if the referee thought it did, it appears the law was applied incorrectly anyway.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Sarah,
I can't begin to imaging what offence the referee thought had been committed here.
There is a common misconception that saying 'mine', 'leave it' or something similar is an indirect free kick. A lot of players, spectators and managers think this is so.....and unfortunately, a lot of referees. Not only is there no offence committed by saying 'mine' or similar, but it is actually completely illegal to award an IFK without a caution!
As my colleagues pointed out, the exception is when it's deliberately done to distract an opponent. For instance, stand behind an opponent with the ball and tell them to 'backheel' and you can expect a card.
In your case the referee has acted contrary to the laws. I can't imagine why a referee would have thought your instructions were a problem and having thought they were, the referee absolutely cannot award an IFK unless they also show you a yellow card.