Question Number: 17088

Law 13 - Free Kicks 10/4/2007

RE: Rec Adult

Elsa of Riverside, CA USA asks...

When the other team has a free kick, if the player does not ask for her space in front, am I supposed to just give her the space, or is it ok for me to stand there and block her view/kick? I recently got a yellow card b'cuz the referee said i didnt give the player her space, but she didnt ask for it, so i didnt give it to her.Was i wrong?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Elsa your opponents are entitled to have no one nearer the ball than 10 yards in all directions. Entitled!!! That means you are obligated to retire at least that distance without being asked by anyone. Failing to do that is a cautionable offense, as you learned. Yes you were wrong.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Elsa: at a free kick, you are REQUIRED to give 10 yards and you are REQUIRED to do so immediately and without anyone telling you to. That's what it says in Law 13. If you do not, you should be cautioned and shown the yellow card.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Elsa,
Absolutely 100% in the wrong!
It is a myth that the opposition must be asked to retreat. The opposition are OBLIGATED in law to provide a ten yard FREE area in which the offended team has the FREEDOM to put the ball back into play.

As a Coach, who has played and refereed I understand that the way the law is worded and the way certain referees permit things is a TACTICAL effort on my part to educate my players to take what they are given and to feign incredulity (not dissent) if a referee calls them on it. Perhaps fair play is only achieved if neither team fouls the other but in reality of competition, if they realize the danger of a quick restart a player might take the chance and purposefully move towards and over top of the foul location as they seem to be retreating but really they were 4 or 5 yards away out behind the foul then ran five yards closer to get ten yards away!

When we constantly tell those who ask on this site that a referee is a MATCH condition much like the weather or pitch surface we really mean it! My players are obligated to take a referee course whether or not they choose to referee! I expressly prepare them and educate on the reluctance and character of referees to not be so quick to do as the law actually allows and adapt.

Players who choose such a course of action must FULLY understand that they cannot dissent or argue without consequences but if they must take a card to prevent a scoring chance or delay the attack neither are they shocked when it comes there way.

Tactically exploiting the referee is different then say teaching my players to foul to hurt an opponent or to dive for no reason to receive a foul or cause the opponent to be carded. The unethical act of cheating is against the spirit of fair play but if there is a slow AR on our offside traps who raises the flag and gets it wrong in our favor no one is going to say you were wrong they were onside.
Cheers