Question Number: 19786

Law 13 - Free Kicks 8/20/2008

RE: Comp Under 11

Jay of san jose, ca USA asks...

At a recent game where I was an AR, a team was awarded a corner kick on my side of the field. The player grabs the ball and comes over to the corner with the ball, sets it down and taps the top of the ball with the bottom of his foot. Another player from the same team then casually comes up and starts dribbling the ball into play. The tap was just that, a tap and not a kick. I wave my flag for the second touch and make the coach, who it turns out to be also a licensed ref, not happy. Questions: from a mechanical standpoint did I do the right thing? The center was watching. Should I have let it go and leave it up to the center to make the correct call? Where are changes in interpretaions of laws easily located on the Web (I believe it used to be in play with the tap)? If we follow FIFA rules, why do we use US Soccer to interpret the laws and not FIFA itself? After all, if I had a copy of the ATR with me I could have shown it to him-if he accepted the authority of US Soccer to interpret the laws.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

What part of 'Kicked and Moved' doesn't this coach who is also a ref understand? That interpretation has been in active use in USSF documents for several years now. Check Advice to Referees. It's Section 13.5 in the 2007 version, in which a new paragraph of exposition on the topic was added. While IFAB does not go into such detail describing what is meant by a 'kick', the Laws are full of references to 'kicked and moved'.

Yes, there was some confusion in the past where, incorrectly, tapped was allowed to mean kicked. That should have been settled by now, but unfortunately as we all know, it sometimes takes a while for some people to both hear and comprehend.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You were correct. the coach/referee has not kept up with official interpretations from US Soccer which as specifically disallowed the tap on the top of the ball as kicked and moved. Maybe soon this stupid 'trick' will end.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

It's all a matter of interpretation as to whether the tap on the ball is a kick which propelled the ball even a little and whether it then moved 'from here to there' putting it into play - or not. If the interpretation is the ball was put into play by the second player who then touched it again, then it is a fact of play.

And in your situation, as the AR where the corner is being taken, normally the referee would have given this responsibility to you in your quadrant, so it IS your call.

Any questions an AR may have about such occurrences should be asked and answered in pre-game. (Also a good time to review what's the proper interpretation - natch).

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 19824