I played in a match tonight where an opposing forward was fouled about 3 yards outside the box, right at the corner. The ball rolled about 12 yards away, toward the center of the field , remaining about a yard outside the 18'. I was playing sweeper and started setting up our wall, asking the linesman where the ball should be spotted in order to set up. His reply was "even with me and the edge of the box". As we were setting up, their forward ran to where the ball was (still in the middle of the field, about 20 yards out), passed the ball across, and their player shot it in the net. The ref whistled a goal. No whistle ever blew indicating the play was starting, and when I protested, the ref, rightfully from his point of view, claimed they had the right to a quick restart. My problem, obviously, was that they got the ball in a much better position (12 yards closer to center), and that the linesman who originally made the call should have ordered a rekick from the proper placement. I was unsuccessful. I'm fully aware that players routinely take kicks from closer than the spot of the foul, and routinely throw in from closer than where the ball went out. If the ref wants to let them do that, then fine. Just don't throw me off by indicating the ball will be played from one spot, then let them play it from another 10 yards closer to goal. I disagreed with the opinion that a quick restart took precedence over proper placement of the ball. Karma took over in the end, as 30 seconds from the final whistle, I scored the winning goal on a Feilhaber-esque full volley from 25 yards out. I wish I could claim it was all skill, but it was more "swing for the fences and hope it dips under the crossbar!"...
I mean, I see his argument, that our player was the one who nullified the attacking player's advantage by fouling him, and that a quick restart in effect regains that advantage, so it is the best possible solution to the foul, certainly better than turning it into a tactical free kick, where they have to curl it over a 4 man wall. I think the fact that they scored confirmed this in both the linesman's, and the ref's minds (although I honestly don't think the ref ever realized the ball was played 12 yards closer than the spot where the linesman called the foul). In their view, our defender did a bad thing by fouling, and the goal was justification that their call rectified the situation. That said, me seeing his argument doesn't change the fact that I think he's flat out wrong. IMO, you can't tell a group of players specifically where the ball should be placed, then just let them ignore it. Not even a quick restart justifies that, IMO.
I would say poor communication between the AR and the CR. If the AR feels that the ball free kick was taken too far away from where he called the foul, then he should flag for the CR's attention and correct things. Although it the players are close enough, tell them to put it closer, if they put it in play before it is in the right spot, I would flag for the CR and redo the kick in the proper spot.
Of course, you can flag all you want, but it will be the CR's decision in the end. The AR's communication doesn't help things here if it added to the confusion, but it still remains the CR's call (as to where the foul occurred and how close the ball needs to be to the exact spot). It is fair to say that the attacking team has a right to a quick kick, so certainly no need for any whistle or anything, but where the ball is spotted rests in the CR's discretion ultimately. A good CR will generally want to allow the quick kick, and there is little purpose served by splitting blades of grass. But, even if they want to quick kick, you do require them to stop the ball for the restart, and at some point it's too far away from the spot of the foul to allow it to proceed (with proximity to the actual spot probably increasing in importance as you get closer to the goal). From the original description of this play, it sounds like the attacking team was given substantially more latitude than I personally would have allowed, but probably a good lesson learned in paying attention to the ball and the CR. Congrats on the golazzo.
Following up on my earlier post, I think you'd have a stronger argument if the CR had told you that. Coming from the AR, it's helpful, but not the gospel. As just one of many examples, if the AR raises his flag for offside and you stop playing, you don't get to complain that there was a flag up if the CR waves it off and allows play to proceed. The AR's comment here is similar to me. It adds to your case, but the real issue is how far from the actual location of the foul was the ball.
That's actually a great point about the offside flag, that I hadn't thought of here. Seems like even though I'm "morally right" about 12 yards or so really being too far for a quick restart, I'm wrong when I say the AR should have called for a re-kick. If it was ultimately the CR's call, then I can't blame him for not realizing the ball was so far away from where the AR told us it should be spotted, as he was 30 yards away and didn't have a good view of the foul when it was called (it was a long ball from probably 25 yards from their own goal). Again, it would have been a moot point had our players marked their forwards, so I guess all's well that ends well (my supergolazzo). Nothing quite like teeing up for that 1-in-10 volley and catching it flush!
In this case I am in more agreement with Reisen. I have been taught "yards, feet, inches" Free kickers defending third, the ball should be within a few yards of the foul location, Middle third within a few feet, Attacking third within a few inches of the foul location. If I am the CR and 30 yards from play, and accept the AR's foul call, I am calling out to the AR to indicate to the player where the ball should be spotted. If I am AR and I have made the call, AND had time to be questioned by the defending team AND answered the defending team regarding restart location. I will have my flag up the moment the ball is kicked in a position 12 yards away from where I indicated the foul occurred. This is where all 3 referees are being paid to work together for the fair adjudication of the game. A restart 12 yards from the foul location in the attacking third is not fair. The AR needed to have the confidence to provide full details to the CR before taking position for the subsequent Kick Off.
10 to 12 yds from the spot of the foul should be easy to judge, even from 30 yards behind play. and the restart should just as easily be called back when this occurs near the attacking 18. easy to say; hope i can apply it well.