Question Number: 18592

Law 13 - Free Kicks 3/23/2008

RE: Travel-competative Under 17

Gary Colotti of Rochester, NY USA asks...

I recently saw articles covering the ball in an indirect free kick situation. Player 1 stands next to the ball, as player two runs up to it. Just before player 2 kicks it, player 1 nudges it with his (or her)toe. Does the "nudge" constitute a "first touch", or does the ball have to move or rotate, from the spot it is sitting on?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

The kick does not have to be a hard one but that nudge has to discernibly move that ball from here to there. ANY part of your foot be it the (toe, instep ,heel, sole, laces) can be used to kick a ball While that KICKING motion and movement concept will be an opinion of the referee watching if the defenders buy into it and move forward to intercept then the referee might decide to as well. It is difficult to say the opposition have infringed ten yards or failed to respect the distance if the offensive team considered that their first touch as well.

People like to try tricky bits of fluff where they nudge balls and then ask someone else to take the kick where the second kicker dribbles the ball supposedly unexpectedly because he is not the first person who put the ball into play. These are generally attempts to pervert the restart more than legal means of acceptable gamesmanship. Often used buy the younger kids coaches on corner kicks (which is not an indfk) where they have difficulty in crossing a ball.

Now the distance a ball might roll to the side or forward is feared by the team taking the kick because the opposition moves CLOSER at that singular event closing down the distance legally on a FREE KICK.
The terminology used in law is "the ball is in play when it is **KICKED** and moves. It is now widely accepted that just a touch and move theory does not apply. Such things as a step on or a sole stomp or a tap where the ball perhaps wiggles is not considered a kick. Neither can you roll the ball by keeping your foot on that ball all the way from here to there then take your foot off leaving it stationary.

Personally I like to move over the ball and tap it BACKWARDS away from the rushing defenders with the sole of the foot rolling it into the path of the kicker we score often on indfks because only on pks and kick offs must a ball move forward
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The Laws of the Game say that the ball must be kicked and moves. The ball must move from point A to point B. If the ball just wiggles without actually moving positions, then the answer is "no" it is not considered to have been kicked and moves,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Furthermore USSF which we in the US go by states the ball must be "touched with the foot in a kicking motion". Nudging or tapping the ball don't qualify nor does dragging the ball with the foot on it.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Articles regarding the ball being kicked and moved as opposed to it being caused to shake and quiver after being tapped usually say something about opinion of the referee. Those referees having the opinion kicked and moved means anything other than what it says are incorrect. In fact those very same referees have created the myth about shaking and quivering themselves. The current Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game is quite clear as to the meaning of the term "kicked and moves" means th US Soccer referees. The draft 2008 ATR is even more clear, in fact it is abundantly clear. The new ATR should be on the street about the same time as the 2008-2009 Laws or 1 July.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

I too live in Rochester. I could give you a personal demonstration, except it wouldn't do much good. You will find this decision, like others, will not carry a great deal of consistency. In last year's rochester referee unit meeting, we had an hour long debtate among our members as to exactly what this means and should look like. Even those of us who know and understand the new law could not convince all the referees to fall in line with this one...

The laws of the game say that the ball must be kicked and moved to be in play. The ball must be kicked means that the player should make a movement that most people (and more importantly, the referee) will accept as a kick. Then the ball must move and that means some dicernable distance, it cannot simply vibrate.

So, if you want to catch the other team off guard you will really need to do it well, because it's not like it used to be where you could simply tap the ball so the other team would not know it was in play and then sneak the free kick past them. Now, you will have to figure out a different means of legal deception.