Question Number: 18432

Law 13 - Free Kicks 2/26/2008

RE: competitive Adult

Sean of Manassas, VA USA asks...

If I ask the referee for ten yards on a free kick, does he have to walk it off?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

No. Actually you shouldn't ask the referee to force your opponents to live up to their obligation to retire at least ten yards from the point of the infraction of the Laws they have just committed! Better look for a quick restart of play so you can benefit from your opponents getting behind the ball because getting numbers back is usually why they gave the foul play in the first place. Yup, there is a reason they wanted play stopped AND a reason for them delaying things so you can't freely take your free kick. Forcing the referee to intervene on your behalf just further delays things so they can cover up. Not only that, but in nearly every case they get away with failing to respect the required distance or delaying the restart of play because so few referees go to their pocket on the first occurrence of this disregard of the Law. Oh, one last thing -- you can no longer take your free kick freely, you must wait for some signal from the referee before you restart play.

Many referees are taught to manage things instead of administering discipline called for under the Law. This is an affront to The Game as a whole and teaches players, like you and many others, they must ask for the ten AND watch the referee walk it off.

In the newest iteration of US Soccer's Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game [ATR] when giving a free kick referees are instructed to DO NOTHING and see what happens. Far too many referees believe they must run to the point of the restart and stand around directing traffic. Far fewer have actually read chapter 13 of ATR and embraced the newest thinking. Bottom line, you have a free kick and should be able to take it without being delayed by your opponents and by the referee!

The obligation to retire begins as soon as the ball is placed at the point of the infraction and ends when the ball is put into play by your side. What we, the referees, are supposed to do is watch for players opposing the free kick inside the required distance and moving toward the ball AND having an effect on your free kick. When we see that player[s] interfere we are supposed to do as Law 13 says, retake the free kick. Not only that but we are supposed to do what Law 12 says, caution and show the yellow card to the offending player. In this day and age there is a fat chance of that happening because failure to respect the distance and delaying restarts has gone unpunished for so long, from the highest levels of competition down to U-Littles.

Referees have just failed to do their primary duty, enforces the Laws of the Game. I, for one, trust this problem will be resolved in the near future.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

NO the referee does not have to walk it off although some still choose to do so. If you MUST ask the referee to intervene at the taking of a free kick it is in my opinion for one of two reasons either the referee has incorrectly allowed the opponents to make the free kick NOT free or you as the attackers want time to set up a special play. It is manditory opponents withdraw from the site of a foul once the referee has signalled and indicated who is to recieve it. Failure to do so is a cautionable action and for some reason too few referees enforce this bit of law!
In determining a ten yard distance referees have many ways to determine such things be it experiance, lines already on the field backward pacing etc... I can attest that ten yards is a minimum distance and if I am forced to pace it we have some mighty big ten yards. Long enough to ensure at the next free kick the defenders are rapidly withdrawing to a safe distance hoping I will not intervene. Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

No and he shouldn't walk it off. ANY referee should know what constitutes 10 yards without having to measure it

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

No. The referee should be granting you 10 yards right away, if you have to ask, he only needs to indicate to the defenders to get back 10 yards. Once that is satisfied the game can resume on the referee's signal.