Question Number: 26152

Law 13 - Free Kicks 4/7/2012

RE: Recreational Under 15

Ryan of Howell, New Jersey United States of America asks...

In many games I have watched and even officiated myself, I have noticed Teams taking a different approach to an IDFK. Player A touches the ball(and it does not move) while Player B takes the shot and scores without it touching any other players. I have refereed to the LOTG and have been unable to find anything if the ball must move, or whether or not it has to only be touched in order to be considered in play. Coming out of last season it seemed to be controversial of whether or not the ball had to move or just be touched. In any event, any help in answering this question based on the LOTG would be appreciated. Going into the Spring season I would like to be confident on the odd laws of soccer.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ryan
Law 13 states that on a free kick the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves. The Laws do not define kicked and moves however USSF in its ATR has stated that the distance the ball has to be moved is minimal and the 'kick' need only be a touch of the ball with the foot in a kicking motion or being dragged with the top or bottom of the foot. Simply tapping the top of the ball with the foot or stepping on the ball are not sufficient to put the ball in play.
So there you have it. It is up to the referee to determine if the ball has been kicked and if it moves ever so slightly. When it does so it is play. Tapping the ball on top is not moving the ball.
Most importantly is how the referee deals with the situation. Referees on IDFKs need to be vigilant that the ball has been put into play correctly. If it has not been kicked and moved then a very quick whistle is required to prevent the kick progressing with perhaps a goal being disallowed.
Finally the award of an IDFK in an attacking goal scoring position is a rare event probably only called now for playing in a dangerous manner. Impeding usually ends up in contact which is then a holding foul
I believe I had two IDFK calls last season in the attacking third and none this season with all free kicks being direct due to contact being made between the players which then makes them a DFK restart.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Ryan, the USSF, of which you are an affiliated referee DOES address this in Advice To Referees On The Laws Of The Game. Touching or tapping the ball with the bottom of the foot has not constituted 'kicked and moved' for at least 3 years and I'm pretty sure 4 years.

You can download a free copy at the US Soccer website.

The ball has to move from one place to another and the ball must be moved with the foot in a kicking or dragging motion.

It's perplexing that this is considered controversial in your area. Since you say it is, someone is doing the referees in your area a disservice when it comes to recertification as this should have been covered years ago.

Around here, a copy of Advice used to be handed out at every recert. Unfortunately, this policy has stopped and apparently Advice is not being distributed in New Jersey either. It is simply unbelievable that the official policy that all USSF referees are to follow is not being distributed by USSF affiliated State organizations at meetings run by USSF instructors. You are expected to know official policy yet your (and my) affiliated organizations do not see fit to make this policy available to you.

So, it's up to you to find and keep up with policy. This can be done in 2 places:

1. at ussoccer.org you can not only download Advice but also all official memoranda and there is a section called Week In Review where videos of MLS and other games are dissected to show proper calls.
2. Jim Allen, one of the main authors of Advice has an official Q&A site at askasoccerreferee.com. His answers to questions carry the full weight of authority of USSF and are even more up to date than Advice.

Start with downloading Advice and go from there

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

See Question: 26167