Question Number: 35813

Law 8 - The Start and Restart of Play 11/24/2024

RE: Comp. Under 15

Larry of Danville, CA United States asks...

I recently had a play where I thought I was in a good position just outside the penalty area watching play in front of goal. The ball got popped out of the penalty area where an attacker ran on to it with the intent to take a shot. He ended up shanking the ball horribly and it deflected off me to a defender, so I stop play for a stion is, could I have done anything different to make the restart more fair..., other than being quicker and not getting hit in the first place?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Larry
In the past it was simply play on with probably the defender clearing the ball away. That was seen as rub of the green.

Under the current law it is a dropped ball to the goalkeeper so in some ways probably not unfair. It’s still rub of the green with the team in possession of the ball changing.

When some play happens that is not predictable then referees may just have to accept their positioning as unavoidable particularly if positioned in an expected position. It is difficult to plan for say a horrible shank. So its not truly unfair in my opinion.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Larry,
while positional play is somewhat regulated in how we are taught to ahem, wander about, the FOP skill levels and speed of play dictate a great deal. You can not always account for a mistake, be it one of yours or theirs. The other possibility was a throw-in or goal kick if the ball had NOT hit you but speculatively? If the attacker botched the opportunity and the ball kabooms off of you instead of saying going onto touch and it goes to a defender I might be prone to play on rather than do a DB but a DB inside the PA to the keeper might be the easiest solution given this new madidate of non interference.
Cheers