Question Number: 31301

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 2/28/2017

RE: Rec College

David Armstrong of Cannock, Staffordshire United Kingdom asks...

Does kicking the ball away after the award of a free kick constitute dissent or is it classified as a different offence?

Many thanks

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi David
It can be both dissent or delaying the restart of play. A player by showing his unhappiness at a referees decision by kicking the ball away can be cautioned for dissent.
The player can also be guilty of delaying the restart by kicking or throwing the ball away.
It is left to the referee to decide which one it is. Generally it is delaying the restart as that is the most common one.
Anyway it does not make a lot of difference as it is still a caution either way although should the player be sent off the players dissent might be less favourably viewed by the disciplinary panel.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi David,
both are cautionable misconduct it is just too bad too many referees ignore it so often.
Kicking the ball away is usually an act of dissent! It is anger at the fact there was a stoppage and the perceived injustice of the call or there could be the realization that the opportunity might result in a goal or cause the culprit to even be sent off. Like a tempestuous child the player is just peeved & reacts with a tantrum.

Now occasionally the player will be tactically aware of the quick restart or the opposing forces are in a better position to start and thus will willingly engage to stop the restart by kicking the ball away to allow time to recover! Thus delaying the restart of play.

The act of delaying the restart CAN be caused by the team with the restart as they seek to waste time whereas dissent is more often a rebuke against the call itself. Either team can be guilty of this as a non call can get as much flack as an actual stoppage lol. In those cases, if we stop solely for dissent, that would be an INDFK restart.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi David,
It could constitute dissent but depending on how it is done, it might also be the offence of delaying the restart of play. The body language of the player can often give a clue as to which is which but I agree with ref McHugh that, in my experience at least, delaying the restart is probably more common. Both are cautionable offences.

When it comes to delaying, the law states:

''Referees must caution players who delay the restart of play by:
[...]
excessively delaying a restart
kicking or carrying the ball away ...''

Unfortunately both of the actions mentioned above seem to be frequently ignored by referees in top-level competition, leading to an inevitable increase in its prevalence at all levels.

In the upcoming MLS season, referees have been advised to ''have less patience this year for players who kick a ball away or stand over a free kick to make sure that it can't be taken quickly'' and ''to be aware of teams or players who deliberately try to delay an opponent on a restart, and to caution blatant offenders with a yellow card.''

It will be interesting to watch and see if this is implemented successfully - I certainly hope so.