A&H

Re-take or IDFK the other way

Alex71

Alex71

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Level 5 Referee
Youth friendly game last night - played in good spirit in glorious evening sunshine

  • Team A has a free-kick on the half-way line, v near to the touch line, in front of the crowd
  • Player wants to go fairly quickly and plays it firmly down the line
  • I am 5-7 yards from the free-kick - trying to get out of the way - I fail miserably
  • The ball cannons off me back to the taker of the free-kick - we look at each other as he controls the ball
  • Now I know the law and what I should do ... I also know - last night - I could "get away with" asking him just to take it again
  • We all get hit now and again - and if we're really unlucky it falls to the opposition who go through and score - that's just tough cheese
  • In my scenario - I wonder what I would have done if the game had been a 'proper' game ... anyone ever penalised someone for a double touch at a free-kick following a cannon of the ref !?
 
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In 'the spirit of the game', I would argue that it is a bit harsh to penalise. Retake sounds like the right action
 
Will Triffitt said:
In 'the spirit of the game', I would argue that it is a bit harsh to penalise. Retake sounds like the right action
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It definitely felt like the right call last night - but - the ball was live and I'm part of the field of play ... shades of grey ..!
 
You can probably get away with it in a friendly, but not in a competitive game, and certainly not if being assessed.
 
I'm quite sure the ball wasn't on the exact blade of grass that the foul took place on. Ask them to move the ball a couple of yards and ask for a retake. Solves all the problems, keeps both the assessor and the player happy!
 
My get out of jail card is the state of the ball. In your situation as soon as the ball hit you you felt that it may not be good for play anymore (too hard, too soft...). Of course by the time you blow the whistle the player has already touched the ball but that is not what you stopped play for. You ask for the ball, check it and ask for a different ball. Restart with a dropped ball which is contested by one team only.
 
one said:
My get out of jail card is the state of the ball. In your situation as soon as the ball hit you you felt that it may not be good for play anymore (too hard, too soft...). Of course by the time you blow the whistle the player has already touched the ball but that is not what you stopped play for. You ask for the ball, check it and ask for a different ball. Restart with a dropped ball which is contested by one team only.
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You've got a slight problem if you are hit several times in one game!!!!
 
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Will Triffitt said:
You've got a slight problem if you are hit several times in one game!!!!
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Lol... I would have a HUGE problem with my positioning if I am hit with the ball several times in one game.

You wont have to stop the game every time you are hit with the ball. Most times it does not have any significant impact on the game.
 
Hi
For me it is a retake and it is on the whistle. Just stop it, tell the player loudly it is on the whistle , move to your location and restart. If you want to be very picky it is an IDFK for a double touch provided you are 100% certsinly it was taken in line with Law 13
 
I think a couple of people above have hinted at a "law 18" response here, but I think you can comfortably apply that principal to find a within the laws reason to order a retake.

You're entitled to expect the player to wait for a signal and can therefore order a retake if you hadn't yet blown your whistle. Maybe you perceived that the ball was moving, or the kick wasn't taken from the right spot. None of these should annoy an assessor, but will stop you having to give a IFK against a player for something that is arguably your fault.
 
GraemeS said:
but will stop you having to give a IFK against a player for something that is arguably your fault.
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I'm not quite sure how this situation could in any way be argued to be the referee's fault. Player chooses both to take it quickly and to play it hard and fast directly towards where the referee is standing. Ref does his best to get out of the way but doesn't manage it. Ball falls back towards original player who then chooses to touch it again. No blame for the referee, clear IFK in a competitive game, might just about consider a retake in a good natured friendly ...
 
Russell Jones said:
I'm not quite sure how this situation could in any way be argued to be the referee's fault. Player chooses both to take it quickly and to play it hard and fast directly towards where the referee is standing. Ref does his best to get out of the way but doesn't manage it. Ball falls back towards original player who then chooses to touch it again. No blame for the referee, clear IFK in a competitive game, might just about consider a retake in a good natured friendly ...
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Yeah...and in the same way, the referee has chosen to move to that position and he's chosen to try to avoid the ball in a certain way that has been unsuccessful. Change either of those factors and the ball doesn't return to the taker, or introduce a referee who has a faster sprint that lets him get further away, a skinnier body that is less likely to get hit, or for that matter, a referee who has chosen to enforce a more ceremonial FK and you've got a number of ways that the referee could have avoided (literally or metaphorically!) this situation.

I'm sorry, but unless the ball has been deliberately hit at the referee, any incident that directly results in a fouled player having a FK given against him for purely technical reasons grates with my sense of fair play. Ideally, you'd want to let the player play on with the ball at his feet, but I understand that there's no way to justify that in law and it would go down very badly with an assessor. So order a retake - simple, legal and fair.
 
Hmmm, see your point, but (making an assumption that the referee's position is not ridiculously foolish) us guys in black are far from invisible and there's at least 90+% of the FOP for the kicker to choose as his direction instead. I suppose the general point is that ANY time the ball rebounds off an official it can lead to surprising results.(that might not seem like fair play). As such, IFAB could have chosen to say that all such occurences result in a drop ball ..but they haven't. In that context, to say that a retake without a real rather than spurious reason,is 'legal', is IMO a step too far. To be fair though, it's such an infrequent occurence that I'm struggling to get too bothered about it :)
 
Russell Jones said:
Hmmm, see your point, but (making an assumption that the referee's position is not ridiculously foolish) us guys in black are far from invisible and there's at least 90+% of the FOP for the kicker to choose as his direction instead. I suppose the general point is that ANY time the ball rebounds off an official it can lead to surprising results.(that might not seem like fair play). As such, IFAB could have chosen to say that all such occurences result in a drop ball ..but they haven't. In that context, to say that a retake without a real rather than spurious reason,is 'legal', is IMO a step too far. To be fair though, it's such an infrequent occurence that I'm struggling to get too bothered about it :)
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Good point well made ... First time in +500 games it's happened to me - although just shows that new stuff can always happen and make you stop and think (or in my case - stop and get in the way!)
 
Sadly in one contrib game I got hit by the ball three times, leading to a quip from the losing team manager after the game that I had touched the ball more in 90 minutes than his centre forward ..!! I considered retorting with I had a better touch than him, but that might have been pushing my luck.

It happens, and in open play there isn't anything you can do about it other than holding your hands up and apologising. At a restart you have a little more leeway, should you want to extricate yourself from any mess that might be caused (e.g. the other team score pretty soon after the IDFK and you get the blame). You could claim you weren't ready, or the ball was in the wrong place, and have it retaken. I'd like to think that some teams would realise they don't deserve an IDFK for it and will just kick it out for a throw in to the other team. Not that I'd necessarily advocate it, but the referee could even encourage this (lads, that was my fault as I got in the way, perhaps you kick it out for a throw in?). Unless they have a long throw expert a throw in is far less danger than a free kick, so everyone is happy.
 
Sounds like in this situation the new law "spirit of the game" gives you a legitimate purpose to play on or retake lol
 
CA said:
I'm quite sure the ball wasn't on the exact blade of grass that the foul took place on. Ask them to move the ball a couple of yards and ask for a retake. Solves all the problems, keeps both the assessor and the player happy!
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CapnBloodbeard said:
Sounds like your back was turned? If so, you can't be certain the ball wasn't moving, can you? ;-)
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Young refs, save these posts and use them! Get out of jail fre cards are valuable!
"Rolling ball (with the hand action to sell it of course), retake and on whistle this time please fella"
 
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