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Have you ever had a pressing question about the Laws of the Game? Wondered if the call the referee made in last Sunday’s match was correct? Now you have a place to turn to … ussoccer.com’s “Ask a Soccer Referee”

If you have a question about the Laws of the Game, simply send it to askareferee@ussoccer.org, where experienced referees will answer your question. While only select questions will be answered on ussoccer.com, every other question submitted will be answered privately via email.

Jim Allen (National Instructor Staff/National Assessor) and Dan Heldman (National Instructor Staff) answer each question submitted to ussoccer.com’s “Ask a Soccer Referee”. Alfred Kleinaitis, U.S. Soccer’s Manager of Referee Education, also contributes, ensuring the accuracy of each answer.

Each week a new batch of questions will be answered. The “Ask a Soccer Referee” section of ussoccer.com contains current questions and answers, as well as an archive of past question and answers. Included among the current topics are: Deliberate vs. Accidental Handling, Obvious Goalscoring Opportunities, Players Wearing Glasses and Unplayable Fields.

LEAVING THE FIELD TO AVOID BEING CALLED OFFSIDE
Question:
An attacker is dribbling the ball down the field and has reached just outside the Penalty Area, past all of the defenders, one of his team mates is standing between the goal line and the top of the goal area. The goalkeeper is in the same general area. Question: If the attacker standing between the goal line and the goal area leaves the field of play, in between the goal posts, to remove himself from an offside position, after the kick was taken, but in the opinion of the referee interferes with the goalkeeper, what is the correct decision for a restart? What about if he's not interefering with the goalkeeper? Is it a cautionable offense for him to leave the field over the goal line to remove himself from an offsides position? At what point do we consider whether it was in dynamic play or not? Is the restart a kick off, after a goal being awarded? What is the referee to do? What If the attacker leaves the field of play over the goal line between the goal posts, before kick was taken, what is the proper restart?

Answer (February 24, 2003):
No, it is not a cautionable offense to leave the field to avoid the offside. However, if, in the opinion of the referee, the attacker who has left the field to avoid being called offside interferes with any opponent, then he must be cautioned for unsporting behavior and shown the yellow card. The correct restart for interfering with play while off the field is a dropped ball at the place where the ball was when the offense occurred, bearing in mind the special circumstances described in Law 8. And if the ball was still in play when the interference occurred, then whatever happened did occur during dynamic play.
If the referee believes that the player was not interfering with an opponent, then no offense has occurred and the goal is scored; restart with a kick-off.

RESTARTS
Question:
Several questions have arisen during the recent high school season among our referees. I have not been able to find definitive answers, and in some cases, I have found conflicting answers.
1. Away from the ball, asst. referee observes two players tangled up; defender strongly pushes offensive player to the ground in the penalty box; ball is at midfield when referee notices flag and blows whistle to stop play; asst. feels a caution is needed for defender. What is the proper restart and where should it take place?
2. Similar question. During play, defender complains to referee about previous call. Referee feels a caution is needed. The ball is 20 yards away at this point. What is the call and the restart? Does it make any difference if the dissent takes place in the defender's penalty box or if the ball is in the penalty box?
3. Ball hits the corner flag as it goes over the touch line not the goal line. Throw in or corner kick?

Answer (February 15, 2003):
We cannot presume to answer for games played under high school rules, but if these incidents had occurred in USSF-affiliated games, the answers would be:
1. Penalty kick for the attacking team.
2. If the referee stops play to deal with dissent, the restart would be an indirect free kick taken from where the offense occurred, bearing in mind the special circumstances described in Law 8.
3. Throw-in.

INTERFERENCE AT A THROW-IN
Question:
The ball leaves the field of play for a throw in to team B. A Player from team A stands near the touchline about 1 meter away from the line, and at this point is standing still with arms at the side. As the player is about to take the throw in the defending player jumps up and down with his hands at his sides. The player delivers the throw into the F.O.P. to a team-mate. The referee stops the game, cautions the defending player and restarts with a indirect free kick from where the player is standing.
Now for my question. I am happy with stopping the game, the caution, but is the restart correct?????? Should it not be restart with the throw-in as technically the offence occurred before the throw-in was completed, even though the referee did not blow for a infringement until the ball was well into the F.O.P.?

Answer (February 9, 2003):
If the referee stops the game to deal with interference BEFORE the throw-in, the correct restart after the caution/yellow card for unsporting behavior is a retake of the throw-in. If the former thrower is prevented from participating in play AFTER the throw-in is completed, the referee must stop the game, caution and show the yellow card to the offender for unsporting behavior, and restart with an indirect free kick from the place where the misconduct occurred.
The referee must exercise management skills in such cases. What will work? What is appropriate for this match at this time? What will buy the most for the referee? Indeed, there is a third option -- which is to be proactive and take preventive action to avoid the misconduct entirely (mostly for younger, less competitive, or "friendlier" matches).

The next time you are stumped about a law of the game, please take the time to drop a line to ussoccer.com’s Ask a Soccer Referee, where your questions will be cleared up. Also, feel free to browse through the archives of Ask a Soccer Referee to read about some vexing situations on the soccer field and the appropriate solutions.

This section is run with the hope of keeping our constituents informed and up-to-date with rules changes and other difficult to understand situations on the field. We hope that you find this new feature on ussoccer.com exciting, yet also educational. For referees we hope it will clear up questions that come up on the playing field. For non-referees, we hope it will give you a little more insight into what goes on in a referee’s mind moments before the whistle blows (or doesn’t blow).

As we continue to try to satisfy the needs of fans, coaches, referees and players, we would greatly appreciate your comments on this new section of ussoccer.com. And if you have any questions, please “Ask a Ref.”

Answers only pertain to games played in leagues and competitions affiliated with the United States Soccer Federation.

If you need more clarification on any matter, please contact Alfred Kleinaitis, U.S. Soccer's Manager of Referee Education. Alfred can be reached at akleinaitis@ussoccer.org or at (312) 528-1272.

--
Forrest Eber
U.S. Soccer Communications Dept.
tel - 312 528 1270
fax - 312 808 9566
feber@ussoccer.org

"High Kick, Ref!"
But is it dangerous play?

Following are two play situations, along with graphics, that are frequently disputed by coaches in terms of how they are interpreted by referees. They appeared in Referee magazine under the headings “Gray Decisions on Dangerous Play” (August 1999) and “Kicking or Tackling?” (July 1999) and were reprinted with permission in the March/April 2000 issue of Soccer Journal.
If your first thought as soon as you saw Play Pic A was to shout, “high kicking,” join the thousands of parents who watch their sons and daughters every weekend. The foot is high, almost seven feet off the ground. However, the absence of an opponent nearby dictates that no call is made. You must not punish a player for displaying the skills that are a part of the game. It does not matter that the cleats are exposed. No. 3 is in no danger in that play. Do not whistle to stop play simply because you see a dangerous act.
The potential for injury exists whenever feet come in close proximity to heads, mistakenly called high kicking by many. It may occur when heads sink too low to the ground, trying to play the ball in an area where most players would use their feet. Since safety is one of the three major tenets of the spirit of the game, you must stop play and penalize the person who creates the dangerous situation.
Advice to referees: Rule 12.13 lists three important criteria to help you determine if dangerous play should be whistled: The action must be dangerous to someone, it was committed with an opponent close by and the dangerous nature of the action caused the opponent to cease active play for the ball or be otherwise disadvantaged.
In Play Pic B, as player 5 realizes player 8’s leg is coming up, she reacts by drawing her arm in to protect her body and retracts her head and neck to avoid injury. Had 8 not lifted her foot so high, 5 would have headed the ball toward the goal or a teammate. Player 8’s actions put 5 and the dark team at a disadvantage, so you must stop play and award an indirect free kick.
That points out a rule difference between the various codes of play. Under the Laws of the Game and NCAA rules, if 5 and 8 were teammates, there would not be a stoppage. Under Federation rules, that is an offense and the opposing team would be awarded an indirect free kick.

Kicking or tackling?
As player 22 throws his body into a defensive position in a desperation slide tackle, the potential for serious injury exists. Player 22 started his tackle too late or too close to 11. He has strong lateral momentum and will not contact the ground until he is under where 11 is standing now. The wide expanse of 22’s body leaves 11 little escape. All 11 can hope to do is get airborne before contact to minimize injury. If 11’s cleats are buried in the grass as 22 makes contact, the torsion on the ankles and knees is extreme.
That mis-timed tackle is at least reckless (unnatural movement designed to intimidate an opponent) and might be an example of a player using excessive force (placing the opponent in considerable danger of bodily harm). The key to determining excessive force is to watch 22’s hips as he starts the tackle. If he throws the hips upward into the opponent, he is after the opponent’s body. If the hips drop toward the ground where the ball is, he simply mis-timed the tackle while going for the ball.
Referees no longer judge a player’s intent. We don’t know if 22 wanted to hurt 11 or just clumsily started the tackle one step too late. You simply make your judgment based on what you see the player do. In Play Pic C, 22 was high and late and that is a foul. The determination that the foul was reckless or used excessive force leads to the display of a misconduct card. Inevitably, players will exclaim, “But ref, I got the ball.”
Advice to referees: 12.8 is clear: “Making contact with the opponent after touching the ball while performing a tackle does not necessarily mean that a foul has not been committed. The declaration by a player that he has in fact played the ball is irrelevant if, while tackling for the ball, the player carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force commits any of the prohibited actions.”
While the two Play Pic graphics are nearly identical, there are vital differences. In Play Pic D, 20 dropped his hips toward the ground. As 20 nears 11 and contests for the ball, both feet are on the ground. The friction of sliding along the surface will stop his momentum before he contacts 11, giving 11 the possibility to jump over 20’s outstretched leg.

Those minor but important differences become a part of your foul recognition. Skills that take you years to perfect are witnessed by coaches and spectators who cannot read those subtle differences. They hear the whistle when their player mis-times a tackle and note the silence as a ball is cleanly stripped from their striker. Then they cry out that you are not being consistent. Be strong.