Question Number: 17074

Law 13 - Free Kicks 10/3/2007

RE: High School

Michael J. McCarthy of Huntington, WV USA asks...

I had an amicable chat with a coach following a boys varsity game last night concerning the required distance on a free kick. His team (Blue) had been called for a foul in their defending third. As the opponents (White) were setting up for the free kick, the Blue defenders set up their wall about 4 to 5 yards away from the ball. I yelled, "Back up, Blue!" to encourage them to retreat to the required 10 yards. The coach's perspective is that once I involve myself in the restart by addressing the defenders like that, I am obligated to perform a ceremonial restart and whistle before the free kick is taken. I maintain that I am only obligated for the ceremonial restart if the kicking team asks for me to set the wall, and that his interpretation essentially places the power to delay that restart into the defenders' hands. The coach noted that his team had been scored on twice previously this season because the referee did not do a ceremonial restart. I suggested that if I am now the third referee to disagree with his interpretation, he might want to rethink it -- even if we're all wrong, we seem to be consistent. :-)

How should I handle such situations? Should I say nothing and wait for the attackers to request me to set the wall (which robs them of the "free" in free kick)? Should I verbally suggest that the defenders retreat, and if I do, do I still allow a quick restart if the attackers desire? Should I hold the kick and caution and immediately show the yellow card to the two or three defenders in the wall who are obviously not retreating to the required distance (but before the attackers have asked for ten or kicked)?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Why didn't you immediately caution one or all of the players in the illegally set wall? I agree with the coach that if you insert yourself you should also tell the kicker to wait to take the shot. If you do this you may be further disadvantaging the team that was fouled. Better to caution the miscreants in my book.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Ah, the "back it up, blue" ploy. All this does is temporarily convince players opposing a free kick that they need to back up this time. Not so Michael. What you need to do is convince them to retire the required distance EVERY time. The method used by those of us who don't have all that much encroachment is to caution the [them] guilty player. First time in the match you need to move a defender to where he is supposed to go all by himself is to do it LOUDLY after you have told the kicker to wait for the whistle and know he understands you. Get them back to AT LEAST 10 yards. You might even say next time 10 yards might look more like 15 or 20 yards.

What is going to happen next time anyone moving toward the ball after the direction of the free kick and its location are established is folks are going to be cautioned. Make sure the kicking team doesn't want to get on with things though. Once that happens you'll fine, for some reason, players are reticent to encroach. Believe me, that's a good thing!

So what do you do when the you give a free kick? Nothing, at first... Wait and see what happens. Then, if needed deal with the BS. Then the heart to heart with a disappointed coach won't be for that.

Regards,