Question Number: 19813

Law 13 - Free Kicks 8/25/2008

RE: Rec

Ken of Redding, CA USA asks...

Last night at an Adult Recreational League game an IFK was given inside the oppenent's penalty area near the 12yd mark. The attackers obviously did not want to take a quick kick and asked for their 10yds. They were told clearly to wait for the whistle before kicking.

After the wall was set but before the whistle was blown one of the attackers kicked the ball back to a teammate who shot and missed the goal. Now, of course, teammates realized that there was no whistle and want a rekick. Referee says 'no, you had your shot and missed - goal kick'. Did not sell well and not done to the letter of the law, but I believe correct in the spirit of the law.

I have seen advice here (and fully agree) that the explanation that 'obviously the kicker heard my signal, else he would not have taken the kick, right?' would be the best way to handle situation.

My question is can this solution be found in any of our reference materials? I cannot find it in Advice to the Referee.

Answer provided by Referee Gene Nagy

Ken, this is a messy situation. The referee is going to be in trouble with exactly half the players on the field no matter what he does. The problem here is the mechanics of free kicks. Instructions were given to the attackers to wait for the whistle and they did not do that. The referee cannot allow this kick to be start of play and it must be a retake.
For the record, only a whistle is an acceptable SIGNAL once the referee said wait for the whistle. No other signal is good enough. This is covered under the Use of the Whistle in the advice to referees.
Before the retake is taken, the person who kicked the ball must be cautioned for U/C.
We can imagine how much harder it is to sell this decision than the actual one.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You won't find this as it's not written anywhere. what has happened is the cheaters that have brought the game into disrepute now have to be given a second shot which, as you correctly state, is against the Spirit of the Law. A caution must be given to the kicker and the second shot must proceed. All the referee can do is remember what happened especially when dealing with things that may occur later in the match.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

The Advice to Referees, under Law 13, Section 13.3 titled 'Enforcing the Required Distance' tells us a referee who must enforce the distance (set a wall/ceremonial free kick) must quickly and emphatically indicate to the kicking team that they MAY NOT kick the ball until the referee whistles for the restart.

Under these circumstances, if the kick is taken before the signal, the kicker is warned and upon repetition, is cautioned. The free kick in such cases MUST BE RETAKEN, regardless of the result of the original kick.

It is of course possible to caution the kicker on the first offense, if the taking of the kick early was clearly a challenge to the referee's authority rather than a misunderstanding or miscommunication or simply inattention on the part of the kicker. However, I do not see where it is okay to refuse to allow the rekick, unless the referee had in fact blown his whistle, however lightly.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The correct thing is retake and we always have stated that. Further we tend to caution the person who kicked the ball before the signal. That said what has happened is the kicking team has cheated to take advantage of a situation that disadvantages the other side. This is not within the Spirit of the Game and must be addressed.

How the referee addresses it, correctly, is retake and punish the player cheating. He can also, incorrectly, just signal for a goal kick and sell that by the force of his presence. He is wrong under the Law but in the Spirit of the Game he is right as rain. His assessor will want to have words with him and will probably reduce his total score on that match.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

'You didn't hear my whistle? I heard my whistle.'

If you can't sell that, you're left with cautioning the kicker and doing it over.