Restart Opinion

[EHCCO]

I would like some opinions on a restart in one of my games.

Indoor boys competitive U16. Game tied with a few minutes left. B team commits a foul just outside the box and to the left of the keeper approximately 12-15 ft from goal. Team A sets the ball six or so inches inside the area, not far from the spot of the foul or closer to the goal, and takes a quick restart before team B sets up. He passes the ball across and slightly back to a teammate. I quickly blew the whistle and ordered a restart from outside the box closer to the spot.

My question is, should I have:
1. Waited to see the outcome of the restart and let play continue if no goal is scored?
2. If a goal is scored, call it back and set the ball properly.
3. Kill the play immediately and restart from the proper spot like I did?

Afterwards I was thinking I should have waited and then called it back if a goal was scored.

FWIW, a goal was not scored directly from the second restart but maybe 15 to 20 seconds later Team A scored because they had Team B pinned in their end and scrambling.

Also, I had no more than a second or two to decide because these kids know to restart play quickly.

[refmike]

Team A had a right to a fast restart and your opinion was that the ball placement did not give them an advantage. Given that, I would have allowed the kick to proceed. You were legally correct to call the ball back because every inch counts that close to the goal. If you had not called it back and they scored, team B would have argued the goal and that would be a mess.

Still, I would have allowed the kick. After all team A was fouled and had the right to a kick before the defense could set up.

[intechpc]

Well let me confirm, you stopped play because you felt they had not properly spotted the ball (as opposed to stopping because you weren't ready for them to take the kick yet)? If so then yes you were correct to immediately stop play. If you let it continue and it goes in the net, you've got a real mess on your hands when you disallow the goal and bring it back.

Now, the question you have to ask yourself is, were your mechanics prior to the kick proper for indicating the correct point of the restart. If they were, then Team A should have no question in their minds as to why you called off the restart. If not, perhaps review your own positioning and inidication of the spot for the kick. Sometimes that can make all the difference in a situation like this.

Ultimately, I'd say you acted reasonably and took appropriate action based on the circumstances you've described.

[DWickham]

A similar question was addressed by USSF in 2006 (an IFK awarded just inside the PA was taken from just outside). The answer advised:

"While the referee should not be overly fussy about having the offended team restart from the specific and particular blade of grass on which an offense occurred, neither should the referee allow the kicking team to put the ball into play from any point that suits them best. The closer to goal the offense occurred, the less latitude the referee will give the kicking team for placement. In this case, because the offense occurred inside the penalty area, the kick must be taken from within the penalty area, not "just outside."

Thus, it would be appropriate to stop play and require the restart from the correct location. Moreover, in your example, it sends a mixed message about your judgment if you "agreed" that the spot of a DFK foul was inside the PA by letting the kick start there, but you didn't award a penalty kick. Insisting the kick be taken from outside the area is a clear indication that you saw where the foul was committed.

[EHCCO]

Thanks for the responses.

Refmike, the placement of the ball did not give the team an advantage other than perhaps the one or two seconds they would have required to properly spot it. I think the real point of the question, and one that was brought up before on this forum, is if a line is involved in spotting the ball, especially very close to goal, the ball should be spotted more precisely. I believe the question was posed to Jim Allen and the answer was the ball should be spotted according to the markings on the field. My call was based on that reasoning alone. Had this been another less threatening place on the field, I would not have called it back.

Intech, I pride myself on good mechanics and being at the spot of the foul. I see too many indoor officials that don’t keep up with play and try to spot the location of the restart from across the field. I was there to indicate direction and make the spot but the play was so quick I did not have time to stop play before the player gathered and spotted the ball. Speed, to me, is one of the fun aspects on indoor soccer.

No matter which way this is called, one coach or the other is not happy. I based my decision on spotting the ball according to the line and I was thinking make the restart per the book on this one so as to not have to call a goal back in a close game. I would have called the goal back had the teammate that received the pass from the restart scored. But if several passes over several seconds are made and a goal scored from the improper restart spot, calling the goal back becomes more difficult because the defense could argue the improper placement.

[IASocFan]

The time to call back a free kick that has been spotted improperly is immediately!

If you wait to see what develops, you are accepting the spot. If you stop it at some later point, you're going to have some rightfully unhappy players.

Depending on your rules (most indoor soccer houses have their own rules), there may be issues taking a DFK from inside the penalty area! It probably would have been OK to accept the spot, but it's probably safer (player management wise) to spot in a proper location.

[macheath]

Given the importance of the lines, you did fine. U-16 competitive boys should know the difference between inside and outside of the penalty area, and shouldn't give you any grief for restarting because of their (not your) inaccurate placement of the ball. As you said, at another place on the field, you might have let it go, but that's within the ref's power to judge something as trivial and not affecting play.

[Ref Flunkie]

The time to call back a free kick that has been spotted improperly is immediately!

If you wait to see what develops, you are accepting the spot. If you stop it at some later point, you're going to have some rightfully unhappy players.

Depending on your rules (most indoor soccer houses have their own rules), there may be issues taking a DFK from inside the penalty area! It probably would have been OK to accept the spot, but it's probably safer (player management wise) to spot in a proper location.

Bingo. I'm with IA. Call it back immediately, as an improper restart is not an "advantage" situation.

[DerbyRam54]

Given the importance of the lines, you did fine. U-16 competitive boys should know the difference between inside and outside of the penalty area, and shouldn't give you any grief for restarting because of their (not your) inaccurate placement of the ball. As you said, at another place on the field, you might have let it go, but that's within the ref's power to judge something as trivial and not affecting play.

The defenders could, with some justification, complain about a DFK being taken inside the penalty area along the lines of, if the kick was being taken there, surely it had to be an IDFK. I'm not sure how many players would grasp the significance, but you do leave yourself open to arguments about misleading the defenders.
Which I think was the conclusion of the rather lengthy thread we had on this last year.