Month: March 2009

Interpretations/IFAB

MISCONDUCT OFF THE FIELD

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Question:
An attacker goes down the wing, cuts in very close to the end line, enters the box, evades a defender and then the keeper comes to challenge along the end line. The attacker slips the ball between the keeper’s legs and runs around him off the pitch with the intention of collecting the ball on the other side and tapping it into the net.

However, the keeper grabs him by the ankles and brings him down (off the pitch). Is it a penalty (and a red card) or since the offence took place off the pitch is it a hop ball and a caution for the keeper for ungentlemanly conduct? Anyone know?

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
Coach, if a player leaves the field to commit misconduct, the minimum punishment is a caution for unsporting behavior. We responded to this problem back on 24 February and what follows is a slightly modified version of that response, designed to answer your question. One caveat: It is not clear to us where the ‘keeper grabbed the attacker by the ankles. If it was while the player and the ‘keeper were on the field, but the player fell off the field, then the restart would be a penalty kick.

Regarding misconduct off the field of play: In its guidelines for 2008/2009, the International Board in effect created two scenarios for when the referee stops play for misconduct committed off the field by a player. In the first case, the referee must decide if the player left the field in the normal course of play and, while off the field committed the offense. In this case, after dealing with the misconduct, the referee will restart play with a dropped ball where the ball was when play was stopped (except for the special circumstances involving restarts in the goal area). However, if the referee decides that the player left the field for the purpose of committing the offense and after dealing with the misconduct, play is restarted with an indirect free kick for the opposing team where the ball was when play was stopped (except for the special circumstances involving restarts in the goal area).

In the first case, a dropped ball is the correct restart, based on the fact that misconduct was committed off the field. In the second case, an indirect free kick is the correct restart because the player has illegally left the field before committing the restart.

One must remember that the indirect free kick restart is not for the misconduct committed off the field, but for the illegal exit from the field.

That, of course, opens up an interesting discussion of whether, since misconduct was committed in the departure as well as in the conduct off the field, then it would follow that the referee could also give a second yellow and then a red. But that decision would be up to the referee on that game, at that moment, with those players, and in that specific situation.

Not dealt with here is the matter of whether or not this act of misconduct involved the use of excessive force, which would result in a sending off of the goalkeeper.

We hope this answers your question.…

Guide to Procedures

SIGNALING A GOAL

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Question:
I was a AR at a recent game and a situation occured where the ball was floating aorund the goal line and the keeper was trying to grab it before it rolled across.

I saw it roll across the goal and then he grabbed it and brought it back onto the field of play.

It was my impression that to signal a goal a AR should sprint back toward midfield as a signal of a goal but since it was not obvious as the ball was floating around there seemed to be some confusion.

The center referee while watching me run back was motioning to me asking if it was a goal or not.

Half way up the line I just stopped and screamed out it was a goal.

Was there some other signal I should have given him other then the sprint up the line or was this correct?

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
We suggest that you follow the instructions in the USSF publication “Guide to Procedures for Referees, Assistant Referees and Fourth Officials, designed specifically for the assistant referee to use in this situation:

If the ball briefly but fully enters the goal and is continuing to be played, raises the flag vertically to get the referee’s attention and then, after the referee stops play, puts flag straight down and follows the remaining procedures for a goal.

…
Advice to Referees

CEREMONIAL RESTART ISSUE

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Question:
During a recent amateur men’s league match where I was the referee, I called a foul against the defense and awarded a free kick about 25 yards from the goal line near the corner of the penalty area. The offense asked me to move the wall 10 yards and I informed the kicker to wait for my whistle. The kicker, a little over anxious, takes about 5 steps before kicking the ball. I blew the whistle to restart at about his 3rd step. The goalkeeper sprints out and punches the ball away which goes directly over the touch line on the opposite side of the field. At the time, I thought the kicker proceeding before the whistle and then my blowing the whistle may have been confusing to some players, so I ordered a retake. I took a little heat for it from the defense at the time.

In thinking about the decision, I though about Advice to Referees – 2007. In section 13.3, it states that the free kick must be retaken if the play is restarted prior to the signal. While the ball was not kicked yet, I had reasoned that play had begun because he had taken steps and was obviously going to kick it. Prior to the game, I had also looked at the 2009 Game Management model for MLS. In there it states that if the ball goes directly to the goalkeeper and he retains possession, let play continue. My scenario was slightly different. If I think about what was fair, I would have given a throw-in where the ball went out of touch after the keeper punched it. What advice can you give me? Thanks very much.

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
The defending team has only one right at a free kick. That right has nothing to to with a wall, nor to loiter in front of the kicker; it is to be allowed to play without distraction by the referee. That has certainly not occurred here. On the other hand, as we have often stated here, the kicking team does have the right to attempt to deceive their opponents at a free kick. We hereby reinforce the statement that “must wait for referee signal to take free kick” means exactly and only that — the ball cannot be kicked until the whistle sounds. Award the throw-in.…

"Inventive" Refs

DROPPED BALL

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Question:
I recently observed a tournament game where the keeper on the defending team was on the ground holding the ball between his legs. The referee stopped play, ruled it a dropped ball, told the keeper “I am going to drop the ball and you pick it up.” Everything I have read and on the couple of incidents I have refereed and have had to call a dropped ball situation, the call was correct, in that is should have been a dropped ball situation, but the way in which the referee allowed it to play out was not correct. He did not have any member of the attacking team involved with the drop ball and should not have told the keeper he was going to drop it and for him to just pick it up.  Both teams should have been involved. The keeper could legally be involved with the drop ball but the attacking team should have had an opportunity to play the ball after the drop.

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
You have not given us enough information for a single answer. There are at least two reasons that the goalkeeper might be on the ground with the ball between his legs: Either he is (a) injured and thus unable to rise or is (b) committing dangerous play and withholding the ball from play by others.

If the referee has had to stop the game because the goalkeeper was injured, then the correct restart is a dropped ball. If the referee has had to stop play because the goalkeeper was playing dangerously, then the correct restart would be an indirect free for the opposing team, from the place where the infringement occurred.

As to the manner of the dropped ball restart in the game you observed, you may have confused the Laws of the Game with the rules of high school soccer, which differ greatly regarding the dropped ball.

There is nothing in the Laws of the Game to specify that a dropped ball must be dropped between two opposing players.

Here is the text of Law 8 regarding the procedure for dropping the ball:

Dropped Ball
//snipped//
Procedure
The referee drops the ball at the place where it was located when play was stopped, unless play was stopped inside the goal area, in which case the referee drops the ball on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the ball was located when play was stopped.

Play restarts when the ball touches the ground.

You will note that no number of players is specified. While it is usual for the ball to be dropped between two opposing players, there is no requirement that this be the case at every dropped ball.

This differs from high school rules (National Federation of State High School Associations), which specify that the dropped ball must be taken with one — and only one — player from each team participating.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

REFEREE WEARING A KNEE BRACE

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Question:
About five years ago while playing soccer I tore my ACL. I have yet to have surgery on it and recently became more accustomed to wearing my brace after having a bad incident while playing. My question relates to the uniform of the referee as the brace is rather large and cannot fit under the socks.

Should I referee with the sock pulled up and have the 3 white stripes hidden from view or should I have the 3 white stripes viewed from about halfway up the shin?

I would assume that hiding the 3 white stripes would be acceptable in this case as having the stripes in non-uniform positions would look awkward.

USSF answer (March 18, 2009):
The common sense answer would be to wear the socks at their normal level and wear the brace over the socks if this is possible. And the knee brace must be safe enough so as not to be a danger to any of the participants.…

Guide to Procedures

PROPER MECHANICS AND PROCEDURE

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Question:
I was an AR in a U19 match this week. The ball was in play near the endline, inside the 6-yard area. I judged a player to have been offside, about a yard off the endline, very shortly before the ball went out of play. I raised my flag to vertical, waited for the whistle, then lowered my flag to horizontal — to indicate offside in the middle third of the field. The center referee interpreted my signal as the ball having gone across the endline, off the attacking team, with a goal kick for the restart. The rules of the competition allowed for substitutions, so he turned and motioned them onto the field. From my vantage point, the ball actually was last touched by a defender, so had the offside not ocurred, the restart would have been a corner kick (with substitutions allowed by the rules of the competition). I did a quick evaluation, decided the difference was trifling, and let matters go on (which, at halftime, the center agreed was the best course of action). So, my first question is what should I have done differently as a mechanic to indicate that there was an offside infraction, rather than the ball going out of play? The difference seems trifling, from a practical standpoint, with the difference being a direct restart with no possibility of the now attacking team being offside direct from the kick, versus an IFK. And my second question is whether I’m missing anything in the nature of the restart — is this, for practical purposes, a trifling difference, not to be worried about?

Thanks,

USSF answer (March 15, 2009):
The referee made the first error in this scenario.  The signal you gave was proper and should not have been interpreted as indicating a goal kick restart.  If that had been the case, you would have been pointing the flag straight out when you and the referee made eye contact instead of being (as was the case here) held straight upward and followed by being held straight out.  The only way your signal could have been an indication of a goal kick would be if the ball had left the field — unnoticed by the referee but seen by you — and returned to the field with players still actively playing it as though it had not left the field.

The general guideline, however, is that, given a choice between an offside violation in the area you indicated and a goal kick, FIFA and USSF both recommend going with the goal kick.  The restarts in both cases are, for all practical purposes, equivalent and the latter occasions less need for explanation and is more readily accepted.  This is not the case in your scenario where, if the indication for offside were not accepted, the restart would have been a corner kick instead of a goal kick.  Here, the offside violation must be called.  Since the referee misinterpreted your signal, it is incumbent upon you to make the misunderstanding known to the referee.  

The argument that the goal kick is similar to the IFK restart for the offside cannot be accepted because the choice was not between offside and a goal kick, it was between offside and a corner kick.  Furthermore, the offside restart would possibly not have allowed for substitutions whereas the goal kick restart did.…

"Only in America!"

MULTIPLE CAPTAINS? NOT A GOOD IDEA

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Question:
I have recently encountered teams sending multiple players onto the field with a captain’s armband on. It is my understanding that there should be one captain per team, per match with an armband.

Thank you.

USSF answer (March 15x, 2009):
While the traditional number of captains per team is one, there is no limit in the Laws of the Game on the number of captains a team may appoint for each game.

However, as a practical matter, when a team sends more than one person out for the coin toss, the intelligent referee will ask who is the MAIN captain — the one to speak with if there is a problem (and that is the only one who should be recorded in the referee’s notebook). This is not American football, and we must distinguish between coming out for the coin toss and being officially recorded as THE captain.  There should be only one player per team who is THE captain.…

"Inventive" Refs

IF YOU INTERFERE AT FREE KICKS, THEY BECOME “CEREMONIAL”

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Question:
The following happened late in the season in a U16 boys travel game. Experienced, skillful teams. With about 5 minutes left in the game, I whistle a tripping foul on the defense (who is leading 2-1) about 5 yards out from the left corner of their penalty area. The attacker who is going to take the kick places the ball where I indicate, and a 3-man defensive wall quickly forms approximately 10 yards in front of the ball. The attacker positions himself to take a quick free kick, but a fourth defender strolls in front of him, walking slowly towards the defensive wall. The attacker stares at me, knowing (from what my practice in the game has been so far), that if he asks for 10 yards, I’m going to make the kick ceremonial, which he clearly doesn’t want. So he says nothing. At this point, it seems that I am hamstrung. If I don’t do anything, the attacker is unfairly denied a quick unobstructed free kick. If I whistle to caution the fourth defender, the kick becomes ceremonial, which the attacker didn’t want (and this late in the game and the season, a caution would be a very small price to pay for denying the quick free kick). If I move to actively manage the wall, the kick also becomes ceremonial.

What I did was to say sharply to the fourth defender, ‘Back up!’. He took one more step toward his defensive wall, whereupon the attacker blasted the ball into the upper right corner of the net, tying the game.

The defending team was of the opinion that my two words to the fourth defender were sufficient to make the kick ceremonial, they protested, and lost the protest. But the protest committee thought this was a close case, noting that generally anything a referee says in this situation tends to make the kick ceremonial. I don’t disagree, but am at loss as to how best to manage this situation fairly.

USSF answer (March 11, 2009):
You did not commit any breach of the Laws, so we cannot comment on the advice of the protest committee, although they are correct in that by saying those two words you did interfere in the taking of the free kick, thus turning it into a ceremonial free kick. However, we are at a loss to design any other way for you to accomplish the end you had in mind, short of immediately stopping the game, cautioning the defender, and then signaling for the kick to continue. Given that you made a different choice, the only other thing we could suggest for your consideration would be a caution to the defender for unsporting behavior, administered after the kick.…

"Only in America!"

PUTTING THE BALL INTO PLAY AT A KICK RESTART

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Question:
Advice 13.5 has changed to read, ‘Being “kicked” can include an action in which the ball is dragged by continuous contact with the foot.’ What would happen if a player used the bottom of the foot to roll the ball forward, and then without losing contact between foot and ball pulled the ball backward? Would that be a proper restart at a free kick? What about the special kicks (kickoff, PK) that have to go forward?

Does the change in Advice 13.5 change the answer of Sept 27, 2007?

USSF answer (March 11, 2009):
The information included in Advice 13.5 is quite clear:

13.5 BALL IN PLAY
The ball is in play (able to be played by an attacker other than the kicker or by an opponent) when it has been kicked and moved. The distance to be moved is minimal and the “kick” need only be a touch of the ball with the foot in a kicking motion. Simply tapping the top of the ball with the foot or stepping on the ball are not sufficient.

When the restart of play is based on the ball being kicked and moved, the referee must ensure that the ball is indeed kicked (touched with the foot in a kicking motion) and moved (caused to go from one place to another). Being “kicked” can include an action in which the ball is dragged by continuous contact with the foot.  The referee must make the final decision on what is and is not “kicked and moved” based on the spirit and flow of the match.

The referee must judge carefully whether any particular kick of the ball and subsequent movement was indeed reasonably taken with the intention of putting the ball into play rather than with the intention merely to position the ball for the restart. If the ball is just being repositioned (even if the foot is used to do this), play has not been restarted. Likewise, referees should not unfairly punish for “failing to respect the required distance” when an opponent was clearly confused by a touch and movement of the ball which was not a restart.

The referee must make the final decision on what is a “kick” and what is “not a kick” based on his or her feeling for the game-what FIFA calls “Fingerspitzengefühl” (literally: “sensing with one’s fingertips”).

In other words, it tells us what the referee should look for at a kick restart. However, that does not mean that the referee should not consider tradition and custom in making decisions. See, for example, the information in the answer of September 27, 2007:

USSF answer (September 27, 2007):
While the procedure you describe, rolling the ball forward, etc., is not what we would allow on a free kick (see below) and certainly not what is required by Law 8, it is commonly accepted practice for kick-offs at all levels of soccer. We have seen it allowed even at the current Women’s World Cup in China and in other high-level competitions throughout the world.

The kick-off, like the throw-in, is simply a way to get the game restarted when the ball has left the field. It is, and should be, regarded as a relaxed and less tense way of doing so. We allow trifling infringements of Law 15 in this regard, and we should do the same in the case of the kick-off.

What you describe does not meet the requirements of Law 8 for a kick-off. As always, however, the issue is indeed whether the action is a violation (it is), but we must consider whether the violation should/must/needs to be handled by a stoppage and a retake of the restart. Unless the player performing the kick-off incorrectly gains some unfair benefit, we are inclined to consider the violation trifling (on par with a teammate illegally standing just over the midfield line on a kick-off to “receive” the ball). As it occurs at the very highest levels on a routine basis, you might, at most, warn the kicker that what just happened was a technical violation of the Law. However, we would recommend that you consider it trifling and punish it only if the players begin to take even greater advantage of the referee’s kindness.

Now, if we are dealing with a free kick, the requirements of Law 13 would apply completely: When the restart of play is based on the ball being kicked and moved, the referee must ensure that the ball is indeed kicked (touched with the foot in a kicking motion) and moved (caused to go from one place to another). Being “kicked” does not, for example, include an action in which the ball is dragged by continuous contact with the foot. Being “moved” does not, for example, include the ball simply quivering, trembling, or shaking as a result of light contact. The referee must make the final decision on what is and is not “kicked and moved” based on the spirit and flow of the match. In all events, the ball must be put into play properly.

When you consider custom and tradition, he two pieces of information are not inconsistent with one another.

Finally, we might add that the kick-off is also the way of starting a period of play.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

ASSIST; DO NOT INSIST

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Question:
During my last game, I was an AR and there was a PK. The kicker sent the ball to the goal post, it bounced back on the field and she kicked it again going out of bounds for a goal kick. I raised my flag as soon as the kicker hit the rebound, however the CR said goal kick (which told me that he didn’t know that part of the law)…

I lowered my flag right away, thinking that I was not going to make a difference.

However, I thought what would have happened if the ball went in the goal… I would have raised my flag but what if the CR still declared a goal…

So my question is, what would be the right way to proceed in this scenario if you are the AR? Should you stay on the goal line trying to bring the CR’s attention? What if the CR does not agree with you, should the AR just lower the flag and concede the goal?

USSF answer (March 11, 2009):
If the referee declares such a play of the ball to be a goal, it is the assistant referee’s clear duty to give the referee the correct advice. If the referee refuses to take this advice, then the assistant referee has done his or her duty.…