During a free kick, attacking player walks back and steps on defending player's foot. Defending player pushes attacker and gets a warning. Attacking player repeats motion, steps on foot, defending player get yellow. Attacking player repeats motion. What does the law of the game says?

Keeper kicking held ball is still standing inside the box but holding the ball over and slightly past the front of the box as they release to kick it. Is the ball outside the box if any of it protrudes beyond the line or does it need to be completely outside the box (like the sideline rule) for it to be a foul ?

I am writing to seek clarification regarding some highly irregular match officiating dynamics during an Over 55s game. For this fixture, only one Assistant Referee (AR) was appointed. During the first 40 minutes, the AR was positioned on the technical area side of the field. However, during the second half, the AR’s positioning was altered twice rather than remaining consistent. Initially, the referee instructed the AR to operate from the halfway line toward the left-side corner flag, effectively continuing to monitor offside decisions for the same team covered during the first half. At this point, during a stoppage, I respectfully asked the referee for clarification regarding the AR’s positioning. In response, the referee made a hand gesture toward his mouth, indicating that I should “shut my mouth.” A few minutes later, the referee again instructed the AR to change position. The AR then moved to the opposite side of the field and effectively operated as an AR2, while the technical area side was left without appropriate coverage, despite that area generally being considered the most important zone for referee game management and player interaction. It is worth mentioning that there appeared to be no operational reason for these changes, such as crowd control issues, unsafe ground conditions, weather concerns, or any other apparent threat or obstruction affecting the AR. I raised these concerns with the club president and secretary and received the following response: “Under IFAB Law 6 (‘The Other Match Officials’), there is no strict requirement regarding which half of the field an AR must patrol or that they remain in the same position throughout the match. This is reinforced in the ‘Positioning, Movement and Teamwork’ section, which provides guidance rather than fixed rules. For context, I’ve played in matches this season where ARs operated on what would be considered the non-traditional side.” Would you please provide your opinion on this matter and whether there is any accepted refereeing justification for repeatedly repositioning a sole AR in this manner during active play? Thank you for your time and support. Shaun

A player of Team A (x) is the only player, except for the Goalkeeper in Team B, in the opposition half, at the edge of the penalty box. A player of Team A (y) makes a pass forward to another player in Team A (z) who is in his own half (clearly onside). The player in Team A (z) moves onto the ball from his own half and draws the keeper of Team B. The team A player (z) passes back to Team A player (x) who scores. Is that offside as (x) has become involved in the play?

In the Tottenham v Leeds match last Monday Tel was adjudged to have fouled Ampadu. Should an indirect free kick instead of a penalty kick been awarded? Law 12.2 states 'An indirect free kick is awarded if a player plays in a dangerous manner. It goes on to say that playing in a dangerous manner is any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone. I don't recall the last time a referee raised his arm indicating an indirect free kick, but it's still in the rules.

In a penalty shoot out, if the player taking the penalty hits the post then hits the back of the goal keeper and then goes in, does it count? If the goal keeper saves it onto the post then knocks it in, I imagine it counts as the ball was going in initially. However as the ball would not have gone in without the goalkeepers touch, does that mean it now does not count? IFAB rules seem to suggest if the ball hits the woodwork and has no chance of going in then the kick is completed which would indicate it is finished before hitting the goalkeeper. Also in normal play, it would be awarded as an own goal which seems to suggest the player hasn't scored. Please help

Hello, to make things clear in this scenarion I will have Player A who is a defender who plays for Team A and Player B who is the attacker and plays for Team B. Say Player A and Player B are both in Team A's box, Player B is attempting to shoot and score whilst Player A is attempting to block it. Player A however gets to the ball first to try and clear it but accidentally kicks the ball towards his own net for an own goal. However after the ball has been hit by Player A towards his own goal, but before the ball crosses the goal line, player B hits player A's ankle with his leg due to him also going in for that previous tackle. The ball is however not affected by this remotely as it's alreadfy been hit by player A towards his own goal, resulting in an own goal. Should the goal be disallowed and a freekick is awarded to team A, or does the goal stand?

I know it’s been covered before but just can’t remember what the procedure is. Red team kicks off for the 2nd half and 5 minutes have been played . Reds score but it’s only then the ref notices they have 12 on the field . He has no idea which player came on at half time and if it was the new man who scored. It’s further complicated in that the red teams shirts in this low level game had no numbers. Should the ref have allowed them to play without numbers on their shirts?

Imagine playing on a smaller field and the goal keeper is very strong. He throws the ball out to a player and it somehow goes into the opposing goal without anyone touching it. Would this count?

I have a question with regard to handling and would also like to know if the answer is any different under NFHS or IFAB. Is a female allowed to cross her arms over her chest to avoid being hit by the ball when it comes from a distance? 100% yes if its a short distance and reflexive action. I'm asking more about a player doing it on a lofted ball from distance. And more specifically where the player puts her arms up well in advance. My interpretation of the law is that at the younger less skilled levels, this might still be a reflexive action or even a natural position (particularly at ages were heading hasn't become a fully trained skill). However, at older ages or more skilled levels, this is an unnatural position and the player must avoid it if possible. I noted that the NFHS provided situations all reference freekick/driven ball/close range situation- this tends to make me believe that it would be handling absent those conditions. Thanks!