Ball going outside the box

[Will Triffitt]

Hi al,
Just wanting a bit of clarification here. Goalkicks - the ball has to go outside the box. If it doesn't is it a retake in all situations?
Main reason for this post though, Saturday I had a game where I was an assistant. The other two refs were quite a lot older than me (at least 40 years older!!!). Before the game, the ref said that from offsides where the free kick is taken in your own PA, the ball has to leave the PA before it is touched (cue recalls of incidents from previous games!! :/ ). The other AR backed this up. Is this correct? I've never heard this before and wanted to see whether he was right or wrong. Wouldn't be surprised if he was wrong... not the greatest performance ever!

 

[Ollie]

Yep they are correct, any defensive free kick with in the penalty area must leave the area before it is deemed in play.

 

[DB]

Correct.

 

[richard ramjane]

spot on sir

 

[Andy A]

Yep, they are spot on. Being a keeper before I took up the whistle I already knew this.

I used to take great pleasure in backing up the ref when one of my own defenders questioned his insistence of the ball leaving the area on a free kick.