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Question:
The referee stops play and a DFK is awarded to the blue team because the red team keeper after stopping the shot inside his area carried the ball in his hands far out into the penalty arc area before punting it away. The keeper had been warned earlier by the AR and the referee. This time he had blatantly carried the ball almost all the way to the top of the penalty arc, which is some 22 yards in front of goal before releasing the ball. The ball was spotted near the top of the penalty arc for the DFK and the red defenders were making a wall at about the penalty mark straight across. One blue attacker decides to stand behind the wall inside the goal area.
The keeper is agitated that the blue player is standing off to his side, four yards away by his left post. The blue kicker seizes an opportunity and kicks it without any signal into the goal. The blue player by the post does absolutely nothing; he simply stands there by the post and smiles as the ball goes in.
Your match - Your decision - Your reputation!

Our Hint

law 11 law 12 22 is not 18 Is it ok for the blue player to be there at all?

Our Answer...

First things first ? we can all agree the keeper has committed a deliberate handling of the ball offense since he is holding the ball in his hands outside of the penalty area (Law 12). This will be punished by a direct free kick. The need to caution the keeper here is nonexistent because he just GIFTED the opposition with a free shot on goal! No argument so far.

But where does the free kick restart from ?

Since the penalty arc is not part of the penalty area, we know the moment the keeper stepped far enough out of the penalty area for the ball to be completely beyond the plane of the area and in his hands is where the restart spot should be. The top of the penalty arc is 22 yards from the goal line; the edge of the penalty area boundary is 18 yards from the goal line (Law 12 ? A direct free kick is taken from the place where the offense occurred.) In the question, the spot was at minimum 4 yards away if not more, especially if the keeper ran out at angle, from where the restart needed to be

Does the fact that the spot in the question is further away than where the actual offense occurred mean the referee should interfere with the free kick? Some panel members are 100% certain this is a blade of grass restart given the circumstances and should be ceremonial just outside the penalty area; yet in absolute law it could depend on the opinion of the referee. In short, what the referee did was bad mechanics but not neccessarily a violation of the Laws of the Game..

The kicking team has a right to a free kick at their convenience barring the need for the referee to stop the kick for a caution or sending off, or if the defenders are interfering with the restart such that a ceremonial restart will need to occur. The kicking team NEVER has to ask for ten yards, please dispell yourself of that myth. The defenders MUST retreat at LEAST 10 yards in all free kick situations as per the law's direction.

Given the preference in the Laws for the free kick to take place quickly or unhindered, generally speaking, a few feet or even yards is not normally critical or cause for stopping the kick to reposition the location. However, the more skilled the players, the more important the spot can be as far as an advantage to the kicking team. This is especially true closer to the goal and out near the corners of the penalty area.

The question to be answered here - is the non-intervention of the referee of greater impact than intervention? Keeping that in mind, consider also the age and skill level of the players. Does allowing the kick to take place further back and or at angle from the true spot unfairly advantage the kicking team by increasing the scoring opportunity?
So what?s the ref to do? Never forget the kicking team deserves the free kick in these situations because the defending team has broken the Law. While the kicking team does have a right to take the free kick quickly by what stretch of the imagination can you see a quick kick occuring here? This was a gift of ball possession by a foolish opposing keeper that entitled the opposition to the scoring opportunity from nothing. While the defenders deserve no less than the free kick against them as the law requires they do not require assistance to be further disadvantaged.

Consider also where the defenders are putting themselves. In this question, they appear to be clearly accepting the restart location, because they are making their wall at least 10 yards away around the penalty mark, when in fact the wall should be 2 yards in front of the goal area or 8 yards from the goal line. If your decision is the spot is not a problem and you allow the free kick then the game continues from that point and it is your reputation that will be called into question regardless if the law supports your decision or not because it could be a retake in some of the panel member opinions. If your answer is yes, the spot is unfairly advantaging the kicking team, then hold up the restart, reposition the ball and conduct a ceremonial restart. If you decide all of this after the kick is taken, swallow your whistle and choke because this decision requires you to understand the game itself and the expectations in law much sooner than this and now there is an offside position to ignore or not.

As for our little blue friend standing by the goal post, is he offside or simply offside positioned? It isn?t easy, or is it? He is not obstructing the goalkeeper?s view of the kick, nor is he in any way interfering by gesturing, making noise or otherwise being inappropriate. He is simply standing there, watching play.

Law 11 tells us it is not an offense to be in an offside position. Unless the blue player actively does something to involve himself in the play, he can stand there all day with no penalty. The question then becomes what constitutes involvement?

There is no strategic or tactical reason for the position taken by the blue player, nor had the player in question placed himself in this position as a result of dynamic play. It was a ceremonial restart and the position of the player was deliberately chosen.. The player stood just near enough to get the attention of the keeper but possibly by the law and the referee or AR standards just far enough away to not be considered for involvement under current definitions. Some have claimed by going into the goal area and taking that position by the goal post it WAS a gesture or movement solely to distract the keeper! We understand the thought but that does NOT make it true!

The USSF Position Paper titled ?Law 11 ? Offside: Interfering with Play and Interfering with an Opponent (August 24, 2006) tells us ?It is not correct to consider ?in the area of active play? to be the same as ?involved in active play? ? merely being near the ball is not enough to judge that the attacker is involved in active play. The attacker must act to play the ball, though the ?action? does not have to include touching the ball.?

The paper goes on to say, and it is stated again in later papers and referenced in the Weekly Reviews from USSF: ?To ?interfere with an opponent? means that an opponent must actually be prevented from playing or being able to play the ball by clearly blocking the opponent?s line of vision or direction of movement or by ?making a gesture or movement which, in the opinion of the referee, deceives or distracts an opponent.?

It also says ?There is no hard and fast test of ?nearness? beyond the opinion of the referee but the interference with an opponent must be clear (not just hypothetical or theoretically possible) before deciding that an offside violation has occurred.?

What is hypothetical or theoretically possible is the restart location COULD render this more likely if the keeper was FORCED to cover that left post and thus be side by side with the offside positioned player depending on the free kick taken. Remember offside is judged at the moment that kick is on its way into the goal and the subsequent actions of the attacker that follow. What the referee permitted set the stage for what followed.

FIFA states an attacker in the offside position who is not interfering with an opponent and does not touch the ball cannot be penalized for offside ? there is no offside offense.

The newest version of the Laws of the Game, 2008/2009 available online at the FIFA website, includes Diagram 6 on page 103 which shows the attacker in an even more questionable position than the one we are considering. Here the attacker is farther out from the goal post and directly in the goalkeeper?s line of sight. This player is judged to be offside.

Absent some movement from the blue player, some gesture, some smack talk, anything besides simply standing there, unless blue is in front of the goalkeeper and on a reasonably direct line between the goalkeeper and the ball it is impossible to decide there is distraction based solely on position. Such a decision would fly in the face of all the current directives from FIFA and USSF, and so in this situation, we must determine in our senario the player was NOT offside because he did not interfere with an opponent. The goal would count. The restart albeit controversial stands.

That was our Question YOUR Answer is...

John Seaman a Referee from Naperville Illinois USA

Bad situation from the first move. It is a foul and DFK from just outside the penalty area, no the top of the penalty arc. At that point, before the player even places the ball on the ground, I would inform the player not to kick the ball until I signal to restart with my whistle. I am also going to book the keeper with a caution as this was a "blatant" foul (no keeper would do this by accident unless the lines are so faded that they cannot see them).
If the blue player wants to stand by the post and do nothing but watch the ball "sail pass", good for them. GOAL!!
Also, call the foul the first time and do not let it drag out over time. Blow the whistle, stand near the spot of the foul and point direction. If it is a youth match, inform the keeper what they did wrong so they can learn from their mistakes.

Al Sinopoli a Referee from Covington LA USA

The question is first whether this was a "normal" free kick or a ceremonious one. Unless the referee motioned otherwise (and in this case he did not) the kick can be taken at any time while the wall is being set-up. So the re-start to me was fine - but that close to goal I would have put it on the whistle.

The second question is was the attacker behind the wall offside. Well, he was in an offside position, but from the sound of it he did not get involved with the play. He distracted the goal keeper by only being there in his mind, not by obstructing, playing, or motioning. Since the keeper could (and should) have just ignored him, knowing that he was offside, it would not be correct to punish the attacker with an offside call.

The goal would stand.

Jay Dreves a Referee from Arcadia CA USA

referee was justified in whistling this foul and awarding a DFK. Keeper was warned previously so he/she should have known. I have a few problems with what the referee did after the keeper infraction was whistled. Not sure why the ball was spotted at the top of the arc when the foul would have occurred as soon as the keeper left the penalty area with the ball in his/her hands. The ball should have been spotted as near to the 18 yd line as possible without touching it. I am being picky here.

The free kick can be taken immediately if the kicker does not ask for 10yds (this would require a ceremonial restart by referee). No signal or whistle is needed for the kick to take place as the situation is described. The blue attacker can stand wherever he would like. If the keeper is agitated that is his problem. The attacker does not move and does not touch the keeper or the ball. The attacker does not obstruct the view of the keeper either. He did not interfere with the keeper nor did he gain an advantage from being in an offside position.

Goal for the blue team. Restart would be kick off for the red team.

bert rizzo a Referee from arlington va usa

the calling of the violation. the awarding of the dfk in this case is following current guidance from ussf. normally, the keeper holding the ball near the pa boundary is trifling and could be doubtful that the keeper actually held the ball outside of the pa. a warning or two should be given by the ref team before calling this violation. here, warning given and ignored. make the call. [From jim allen USSF answer (November 3, 2008):
You are the 250th person to have asked this question this year. We cannot believe that any referee instructor in any state would tell referees to punish this offense with an indirect free kick. Does no one ever read the previous answers or the Laws of the Game? You have only told us of two answers you received. What are the others?
While recognizing that the offense by the goalkeeper of crossing the penalty area line completely with the ball still in hand is never doubtful, but often trifling, we must also recognize that it is certainly an infringement of the Law and must always be treated as such by the referee. The referee will usually warn the goalkeeper about honoring the penalty area line but allow the first such act to go unpunished; however the referee must then clearly warn the goalkeeper to observe and honor the line and the Law. If it occurs again, the referee should call the foul and, if the offense is repeated, caution the goalkeeper for persistent infringement of the Laws of the Game.
The correct restart is a direct free kick for the opposing team from the place where the offense occurred. That means the point just outside the penalty area where the goalkeeper still had the ball in hand.
We might also add that in many cases assistant referees do not do their job correctly in this respect. Instead of judging the place where the ball is released from the goalkeeper’s hands, they concentrate on the place where the goalkeeper’s foot meet the ball, which could be well outside the area with no offense having occurred.]
placement of the ball. the spot of the ball for the resulting dfk is incorrect. the violation happen as soon as the keeper held the ball outside of the pa, not at the top of the arc. spot to ball just outside of the 18 yd line. 4 yds is significant this close to goal. given the correct spotting of the ball, the wall needs to be at 8 yds from the goal line. hold up the kick for the proper spot for the ball and placement of the wall. if the kick happens without this - it is trifling if a goal is not scored (keep playing) and significant if it is (retake).

timing of the kick. no signal is needed from the ref to take a fk. a signal is only needed if the kicker asks for distance enforcement, the ref is giving a card, or the ref needs to enforce some other aspect of the laws. in this case, the ref should be enforcing proper placement of the ball near the 18 yd line. indicating that placement must be corrected, a ceremonial fk should then result and a signal (whistle per ifab additional instructions, page 76) is needed.

the offside positioned player. ussf has stated that a player positioned offside but not interfering with the line of vision of the keeper or ability of an opponent to play the ball should not be penalized for being in that position (differs from an mls match a few years back when they said that two such players positioned offside on either side of a keeper were only there for one purpose, to distract the keeper). our offside positioned player did nothing to interfere with an opponent. [see atr, 2007 11.4]

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