The Ref Stop

Atletico v Barca VAR

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The Ref Stop
It’s hard because I suppose until 5/6 years ago this wasn’t an issue as the ball would obviously have had to leave the area first. So it is a relatively new phenomenon that IFAB haven’t quite decided what should happen.

By the letter of the law, I think it should be a penalty. ‘The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moved’, which it did.

Different scenario but would you stop play if this happened at a free kick? A corner kick? I think you have to give a penalty.
 
By the letter of the law, I think it should be a penalty. ‘The ball is in play when it is kicked and clearly moved’, which it did.

Different scenario but would you stop play if this happened at a free kick? A corner kick? I think you have to give a penalty.

It’s not really that simple. It is not uncommon for players to move a ball with their foot before taking a GK/FK. It isn’t taking the kick just because the player’s foot contacts a still ball. And that leaves us with a mushy situation for the R. When there is the slightest doubt, a R is going to consider the kick not to have been “taken,” when the receiving player doesn’t treat it as such, especially PA. Does the Game really want cheap PK’s like that. (Totally different scenario if the ball is picked up because an attacker is racing in or where a team is trying to be cute on a CK to trick the other team.)

I think the GK law should be tweaked so the ball is only in play when it leaves the GA to reduce these scenarios. (I’d like the same on CKs as well.)
 
It’s not really that simple. It is not uncommon for players to move a ball with their foot before taking a GK/FK. It isn’t taking the kick just because the player’s foot contacts a still ball. And that leaves us with a mushy situation for the R. When there is the slightest doubt, a R is going to consider the kick not to have been “taken,” when the receiving player doesn’t treat it as such, especially PA. Does the Game really want cheap PK’s like that. (Totally different scenario if the ball is picked up because an attacker is racing in or where a team is trying to be cute on a CK to trick the other team.)

I think the GK law should be tweaked so the ball is only in play when it leaves the GA to reduce these scenarios. (I’d like the same on CKs as well.)
Agree that it’s not that simple! And you’re right some players will move the ball at a free kick and other restarts, it’s just such an obvious pass in this situation it’s hard not to give it!

Definitely needs guidance or something because we have already seen inconsistency with it!
 
This is a judgment call that is never going to be completely consistent. More and more we try to shoehorn subjective calls to make them magically objective. It doesn't really work. The amount of nuance and subtle differences makle that impossible. But the Game's obsession with trying to get there (and using VAR to do so) makes these harder to manage.

The only way to say this is not a PK is for it to be the referee's opinion that the kick by the GK was not putting the ball in play. And once that is the opinion, it's hard for VAR to intervene.

But again, I think IFAB should be looking at tweaks to make this scenario impossible or at least less likely. (Were I voting, I'd gop back to the way it was with the ball leaving the PA. And I'd settle for it having to leave the GA.)
 
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