Month: October 2008

Law 12 - Fouls & Misconduct

RESTART FOR VIOLENT CONDUCT

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Question:
Corner kick for team A. The corner kick is taken and cleared away. After the ball has left the penalty area and is in the air an attacker and defender become tangled up. The attacker and defender square up to each other and the defender attempts to kick the attacker from team A (they are in the penalty area). At this point the referee sees this blows the whistle and issues a caution to defender b for usb, and sends off the attacker for violent conduct.

What is the proper restart (the ball was near midfield in the air)?

If the defender made contact with the attacker is the restart different?

USSF answer (October 1, 2008):
And why is the defender not being sent off for violent conduct? We haven’t heard what the attacker did, but what the defender did is clearly violent conduct.

If what the attacker did also constituted violent conduct and preceded the attempted kick — under the Law that is EXACTLY like actually making contact — then the correct restart is a direct free kick for the defender’s team at the place where the infringement occurred. In this case, the location of the ball — as long as it was on the field of play at the time — is totally irrelevant.…

Law 15 - Throw In

THROW-IN

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Question:
Have had some discussions recently in regard to one of the more simple components of play which is the throw-in. The discussions always seem to migrate to the rear foot and contact with the ground and generate a number of differing views. Primarily the rear foot coming up at the end of the motion and is it after the throw or during the throw? Obviously the younger the age group the more latitude you work with for the players so my reference is the competitive levels from U11 thru U18.

So the question is, at what point during the execution of a ‘throw-in’ does foot contact with the ground no longer matter?

Thanks!

USSF answer (October 1, 2008):
The throw-in is completed when the thrower releases the ball. If the foot was lifted after the throw-in, there is no infringement. If the foot was lifted during the throw, then it is an infringement. We must remember is that the point of the throw-in is to get the ball back into play quickly. Most infractions of Law 15 are trifling at best.…

"Inventive" Refs

HANDS AND ARMS DO NOT COUNT FOR OFFSIDE

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Question:
I have been refereeing for about 4 years now. I now referee using both high school and FIFA laws of the game, and came upon a difficult call the other day. Basically what I would like to know is whether the defender’s arms and hands can be counted in the offside call. Here is the situation explained the best I can without a drawing.

While I was refereeing a game, there was a corner kick, which was passed back to the kicker, who I thought was in an offside position, standing just inside the goal line. I called the player offside, and then I thought about the call after the game. The issue was that there were two defenders standing about a foot and a half from the goal line with their arms fully extended and resting on the goal post. I was (and still am) under the impression that the defender’s arms and hands should not be used in determining whether the attacker is offside or not. If the attacker’s arms and hands are not a contributing factor in the decision, I believe that the defender’s arms and hands should not be either.

After this game, and reviewing the laws of the game and advice to referees a few times, I emailed the interpreter for the high school association that I referee through. (This was a high school game.) He replied to me and said that the player that I called offside was in fact onside. I did not agree with that, so I started asking other officials that I worked with. I asked another official that I officiate with at the high school level and he agreed with me. I also asked the head referee for the recreational league that I officiate through, and he agreed with me as well. (The recreational league follows FIFA LOTG)

I would simple like some clarification as to whether I made the correct call or not. I am aware that the game was a high school game, and the rules are slightly different, but the offside call is very similar.
If this were a game using FIFA LOTG, would that have been a correct call?

USSF answer (October 1, 2008):
The Law is quite clear about this. Any part of the body that can LEGALLY play the ball is considered when the referee looks for offside. That excludes the hands and arms, as they cannot legally play the ball. The same is true of the hands and arms of the opposing players.…