Question Number: 15312

Law 14 - Penalty kick 4/28/2007

RE: competitive Adult

Peter Talbot of Huntington, New York USA asks...

What is an "outside agent" referred to on page 46 of the 2006 FIFA rule book?

Reference is frequently made to page 3 of the rule book regarding restarts but I cannot understand how this gives any further clarification

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

An outside agent with regard to preventing a penalty kick reaching the goal or goalkeeper is something or someone other than a player, substitute or substituted player. He is someone from outside the match, in other words the referee can not find his name on the list of players or substitutes.

In fact anytime an outside agent is mentioned this is what is meant.

The following symbols: " * " and " | " are used throughout the Laws, the note on page 3 explains their meaning.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

In addition to the personnel Ref Fleischer has noted (coaches, spectators, etc) an outside agent can be any other thing temporarily on the soccer field that doesn't belong there. The proverbial big dog running out into play, a low-flying goose, a ball that rolls in from the next field over. The best one that I ever heard of was a moose that wandered onto a field in Alaska. (They wisely waited for the moose to amble on before trying to resume play.) Any or all of them become outside agents when they interfere with the play going on.

Outside agents differ from pre-existing conditions, which are permanent things that could affect play. Classic among these are overhead wires which would not normally be in the way, but on a very high kick are hit by the ball. Since they are permanent and the teams, league and referee agreed to play the game with the field as-is, we just continue play if the ball hits the wire.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

dogs,cats,fans,low flying birds,ball from another field,a child, a stroller you get the drift