Question Number: 26232

Law 8 - Start and Restart of Play 4/24/2012

RE: Rec; Adult

joseph of sydney, NSW AUSTRALIA asks...

HI all, with a restart of play from the centre mark,I've blown the whistle to commence or restart play from a goal & The ball has not touched the the player as yet, nor been propelled in a forward motion & a player from the opposing side moves inside the 10 yard circle prior to it being played forward, Is it a retake or IDFK?, I'm calling an IDFK from where the player moved to inside the circle? please clarify as i've been told various opinions ?
regards
joe

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Joseph
As the ball has not been put into play there cannot be an offence punishable by a free kick. The correct decision is to stop the kick off and ensure the defending players move back outside the centre circle. Restart with the kick off
On the mechanics here it is a good idea to only give the signal to start when everything is set including the players putting the ball into play. Then there is no need to be a difference between the whistle and the kick off which then prevents encroachment.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Joseph,

Law 8 - The Start and Restart of Play, states:

In the event of any other infringement of the kick-off procedure:
? the kick-off is retaken

As the opposing team is required to remain 10 yards from the ball until it is kicked and moves forwards, this would then be an infringement of the kick-off procedure. Thus, the kick is retaken.

If it's only a small breach that has no impact on play (for instance, he's only a step in, and the ball doesn't go anywhere near him - and he doesn't sprint straight at the ball that's been passed back) then you may be able to ignore it as a trifling infringement.

As a hint, all indirect free kicks are listed in either Law 12, or in the law that's relevant to the offence (for instance, indirect free kicks relating to issues with the number of players are listed in Law 3).

There in nothing in Law 12 which would support an indirect free kick here, nor in the law relating to the kick-off (Law 8), which tells you that it cannot be an IFK, so it must be something else. That 'something else' being a restart.

I'll also note that there's no reason to caution here unless it happens repeatedly, or (hypothetical situation that I've never seen) it's done by the leading team in the dying seconds of the match to force a restart and waste time. While I've seen plenty of referees caution here under the mistaken belief that being an infringement of the distance means it should be a caution (check Law 12 - 'failing to respect the required distance' doesn't actually apply here), I've never seen one that I believe was justified.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Retake the kick. The infringement occurred when the ball was not in play.
If this happens after a warning, a caution will be appropriate.

As Ref McHugh notes, in the recreational adult match, this may be a trifling infringement that can be ignored if it doesn't affect play. (E.g., infringement at the left side of the center circle, but the play advances to the opposite side.)