Question Number: 20562

Law 13 - Free Kicks 11/20/2008

RE: High School

kim of middleville, mi usa asks...

This question is a follow up to question 20549

OK Eric asked if an Ifk or DFK must go out of the penalty area to be in play....he wasn't talking about a goal kick
Per law 13 Free Kick inside penalty area( pasted from FIFA Site)
Indirect free kick to the attacking team:
? all opponents must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball until
it is in play, unless they are on their own goal line between the
goalposts
? the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves
? an indirect free kick awarded inside the goal area must be taken
on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest
to where the infringement occurred

So the attacking team only has to put it in play on a IFK...not kick it out of the penalty area to be in play Onviusly an IFK or DFK awarded to defending team must travee out of the penalty area to be in play.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Kim, if you are playing a 'gotcha' game with us, you win. It was so obvious to all of us that the questions dealt with free kicks LEAVING the penalty area we did not answer considering IDFK to the attacking team inside the penalty area. So, if an IDFK is awarded to the attckers, the defenders must retreat 10 yards, or to the goal line if the kick is less than 10 yards from the goal and OF COURSE the ball does not have to leave the penalty area before it is in play. that should not even be a consideration as it's just downright silly. Still, as we ALL have rightly said repeatedly, ALL free kicks leaving the penalty area must leave the penalty area before they are in play. This is a black and white issue

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Kim & Eric,

Your interpretation is incorrect.

Please get into the habit of reading the entire text of the Law before trying to appy it. You cited only part of Law 13, and left out the most important part which answers the question about whether or not the kick must leave the PA to be in play!!!

Position of Free Kick
Free Kick Inside the Penalty Area
Direct or indirect free kick to the defending team:
? all opponents must be at least 9.15 m (10 yds) from the ball
? all opponents must remain outside the penalty area until the ball
is in play
? the ball is in play when it is kicked directly out of the penalty
area
? a free kick awarded in the goal area may be taken from any point
inside that area

As you can see from bullet point number 3, the ball is IN PLAY WHEN IT IS KICKED DIRECTLY OUT OF THE PENALTY AREA, not before!! If the ball is played by a player before the ball leaves the penalty area, the kick must be retaken (read a little further down into Law 13, and you'll see this line: If, when a free kick is taken by the defending team from inside its own penalty area, the ball is not kicked directly out of the penalty area:
? the kick is retaken).

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

DEFENDING free kicks from inside their own penalty area are NOT the same as ATTACKING free kicks inside the opposing penalty area.

An attacking DFK inside the opposing penalty area is always a PK taken from the 12 yard spot.
An attacking INDFK cannot occur any closer than 6 yards to the goal.

Both types of attacking free kicks from inside the opposing penalty area PKs and INDFKs are in play when the ball is kicked (forward in the case of a PK ) and moved
Ten yards applies as PKs state EVERYONE must be outside the area and behind the ball while INDFKS inside of ten yards to the goal and to a maxiimum closeness of 6 yards to the goal have a SPECIAL allowance that permits the defenders to stand along the goal line under the crossbar between the posts. The defenders must however be ten yards away in every other direction of the indfk except along that 8 yard 5 inch strip under the crossbar between the posts.

Any defending free kick DFK or indfk from within the penalty area must first exit the penalty area to be in play. Any defending free kick DFK or indfk, coming out of the goal area can be taken from anywhere inside the goal area and still must exit the penalty area to be in play.

All opponents must still be a minimum of ten yards away from the spot of the infraction or foul as WELL as be completely outside the defender's penalty area. No opponent can enter the penalty area to challenge or pursue either until the ball has left the penalty area. We often see the keeper slant a pass out on a goal kick and attackers try to cut the corner of the 18 yard penalty area **before** the ball has left the area. This is retake if not deemed trivial or ignored as advantagoues to the team in ball possession n the opinion of the referee

Perhaps you suffer from the same malady as I do occassionaly? We know what we mean but we write it different thus people respond to something we thought was abundantly clear far differently then we might expect!
Cheers.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

OK, the original post didn't specify which team was taking the free kick, but it was apparent from the context that he meant an outbound kick. When you compare a free kick to a goal kick, you must be talking about the defenders. Goal kicks go outbound only.

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

See Question: 20567