High School 12/19/2024

RE: Comp High School

Peter of Stockton, CA USA asks...

Firstly, thanks for being a great resource to get questions answered.

My son, who is also a referee, shared the following clip with me:

https://youtu.be/qvpYQzOIiFE

We have been discussing it back and forth and so want to get an outside opinion. We have opposing view points:

(1) I think a red card would be warranted but would be willing to bring it down to as yellow. IMO the collision was due to both players going for the ball, however, besides going for the ball both players need to lookout for the safety of the opponent. Based just upon the clip, I do not think that the collision was intentional.

(2) My son believes that the referees got it right. Soccer is a physical game, both playe...

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Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 12/17/2024

RE: Professional Professional

Ross of Bristol, England asks...

Say the centre back has the ball at his feet, dribbling in the defensive penalty box. There is no pressure on the ball, he is just simply in possession of the ball, making no attempt to pass or do anything with it except dribble in the box.

Having made no attempt to pass the ball, or have any communication with the goalkeeper, the gk comes and picks the ball up from his feet. With no communication between the players, and no deliberate attempt at trickery or an attempted pass, what would the ruling be? Since the player is in control of the ball but has made no attempt to pass it to the keeper, who has literally just picked it up from his feet, how would this be ruled?

Just had a 30 minute debate post-training, it seems...

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Law 11 - Offside 12/16/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

One more simple situation from the weekend round of our league.

An attacker in an offside position runs for a pass. The goalkeeper also runs to the ball. The goalkeeper kicks the ball out of bounds. The attacker is about two meters away from the ball at that moment. The assistant referee raises the flag.

According to the rules, could the attacker be guilty of something other than being alone (as we discussed in the previous question)?

I can think of two parts of the rules - challenging an opponent for the ball OR making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball.

But it was two meters, maybe three. :-)

Thank you very much!...

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Law 8 - The Start and Restart of Play 12/14/2024

RE: Semi professional Other

Paul Gyde of Rugeley, Staffordshire, Staffordshire United Kingdom asks...

Goalkeeper goes down, no foul given, ref stops play with the ball going out for an attacking throw in.. The ref restarted the game with a drop ball in favour of the defending team, was this the correct decision? ...

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Law 11 - Offside 12/13/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

Hello

One last thing please.

1. A5 passes the ball. A12 is in offside position. There is no other teammate nearby. A12 runs to the ball. AR raises the flag when A12 is ten meters from the ball. Why is such a player offside? What exactly was he guilty of?

2. What happens if he stands or stops running? No offense?

Note:
In point 1, the referee almost always raises the flag. Even though it is not in the IFAB rules. The Czech Association added its own note there that it should be raised. They're interfering again, but it probably doesn't matter here because that's how it's judged all over the world.

So I'm wondering what the violation is according to the rules. Is it running towards th...

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Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 12/9/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

I'm not sure. I'd be interested in the criteria. I understand that it's up to the referee to decide. And there are no such things as criteria. I'd almost say that he has to kick him in the head or misses his head by 20 centimeters or less. :-)

I just found this article. It's eight years old, so I guess I'm mistaken that it's more benevolent now. So I'm changing my mind. It's the same. :-)

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/10575459/should-overhead-goals-from-diego-costa-and-laurent-koscielny-have-stood

Thanks!...

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Other 12/9/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

There are 24 official languages in the European Union alone. I see 5 of those languages on the IFAB website. (English, German, French, Spanish, and interestingly, Slovenian. Slovenian is a smaller language than Czech. Czech has about 13 million speakers, including emigration and minorities around the world. Slovenian has 2 million.)

Countries with small languages must translate the rules. In our country, this is done by the Rules Committee of the Football Association of the Czech Republic.
In our country, which was under Russian influence for 40 years (20 of which were under the presence of the Russian army), Russian was the main foreign language taught in schools. Or rather, in the vast majority of schools, the only one. ...

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Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 12/8/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

Hello

I have another question about the spirit of the rules.

Why do we rarely see the bicycle kick as a
dangerous play at the highest level? I would say much less than, say, five to ten years ago. Have referees become more tolerant?

Thank you very much!
...

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Law 3 - The Players 12/8/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

So that's another problem with the Czech version of the rules.

Believe it or not, they write this there:

A player can intentionally leave the field of play without permission.

when the player:
a) is injured
b) crosses the line in a game action and immediately returns
c)leaves the field of play to avoid being offside
d) leaves the field of play when taking a corner kick, free kick or throw-in
e) leaves the field of play to put the equipment in order

Thanks!...

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Law 3 - The Players 12/7/2024

Petr of Prague, Czech Republic Czech Republic asks...

Hello

one more 're-enter' question please.

The ball is in play. The player voluntarily decides to leave the field of play (due to injury or equipment repair). This is allowed by the rules.

Does the player have to ask permission to return? When can he return?

I'm talking about a player leaving the field of play while the ball is in play, not after the whistle. I can't find it in the rules. (This part doesn't make sense then: '...may only re-enter after play has restarted...') :-)

Thank you very much!...

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