A&H

Standing on the ball

Rob123

Active Member
One thing that annoys me is when you give a free kick and players stand on the ball to stop the free kick. Coaches shouting “stand on it” embarrassing really
 
The Referee Store
One thing that annoys me is when you give a free kick and players stand on the ball to stop the free kick. Coaches shouting “stand on it” embarrassing really
Motion that the team that won it can take it. If it hits them then stick the yellow in.
 
Thatd be a grey area though. Because if the defending player doesnt do anything to intercept it then it would be a play on
Suppose it would be a YHTBT situation. I’ve used poor wording in my original post, because Lotg state if they intercept it, its play on.
Once a free kick is given and ball placed, defenders have to make effort to retreat to 10 yards. If they do and while doing the ball is hit in their direction and intercepted all good.

However if they don't make effort to retreat or even worse attempt to get closer to the ball, then this is failure to respect the distance. You shouldn't even need the free kick to be taken for a caution. But if free kick is taken and the ball hits then, it makes it easier to sell.

Manage this the best you can to avoid a yellow card (eg, shout "move away number 4"...), but if players insist, you oblige.
 
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I don't see a problem with the laws, the problem is with referees who fail to enforce them. In this case, if a player stands on ball, come straight across and give a yellow for Delaying the restart. If all refs did this then the tactic would die out overnight.
Edit: except not for delaying the restart, for failing to respect the required distance
 
Quick question.

Does the ball have to be kicked for it to be delaying the restart?

Or can you book a player for standing over the ball assuming the player taking the free kick is clearly trying to take the free kick?

Edit: it would appear my question is answered above for failing to respect the required distance.
 
Would you book a coach for shouting 'stand on it' or persistently shouting 'stand on it' after you have given a clear instruction not to?
 
Would you book a coach for shouting 'stand on it' or persistently shouting 'stand on it' after you have given a clear instruction not to?
Nah. I'd make it clear to the captain I won't be allowing that and will book anyone who follows the coach's instructions. If that doesn't get the message across to him I might take the opportunity at HT or when I have a dead ball near them to hold up the restart and explain that I've explicitly told his players not to do that, but unless he starts adding actual dissent or OFFINABUS to the instruction, I don't think that's particularly actionable on its own.
 
Nah. I'd make it clear to the captain I won't be allowing that and will book anyone who follows the coach's instructions. If that doesn't get the message across to him I might take the opportunity at HT or when I have a dead ball near them to hold up the restart and explain that I've explicitly told his players not to do that, but unless he starts adding actual dissent or OFFINABUS to the instruction, I don't think that's particularly actionable on its own.
Nice option I witnessed recently in a local league game, with a coach encouraging "Close it down" at all early free kicks for the opposition.
During an injury stoppage the referee said to the coach (from 10 metres away, so heard by several people) "Are you going to pay the fine for the player who gets booked for stopping a quick free kick, because the next one will be getting a card?"
 
Just to add to what one says, be proactive about it. If you get them crowding the ball in shooting distance, it pays to inform them that it's on the whistle. You'll be very surprised how both teams will cut this out pronto. This doesn't mean you are stopping the attacking team from taking a quick free-kick, it just defuses the situation so you're not having the card out at every opportunity.

Naturally, this doesn't apply when it's defensive or in the middle of the field, where no one will be lining up for a wall, so that's an easy blast of the whistle 'move away' and if the fail to do so, a fairly simple caution I think.
 
The fix/cop out/management I've seen at the top levels, is that the referee tends to invent a reason for the fk to be taken again if it hits a defender who is too close, either he 'wants' to talk to the offender, the ball is moving or the kick has been taken in the 'wrong' place. ;)
 
Once a free kick is given and ball placed, defenders have to make effort to retreat to 10 yards. If they do and while doing the ball is hit in their direction and intercepted all good.

However if they don't make effort to retreat or even worse attempt to get closer to the ball, then this is failure to respect the distance. You shouldn't even need the free kick to be taken for a caution. But if free kick is taken and the ball hits then, it makes it easier to sell.

Manage this the best you can to avoid a yellow card (eg, shout "move away number 4"...), but if players insist, you oblige.
Can you expand on this? I've never heard anyone add this little detail.
 
Can you expand on this? I've never heard anyone add this little detail.
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I only bolded what I was asking about. Can you expand on the need for the "ball to be placed"? Do you mean, once the attacking player walks up to the ball for instance? Does that count as "being placed"?
 
Sorry if I wasn't clear. I only bolded what I was asking about. Can you expand on the need for the "ball to be placed"? Do you mean, once the attacking player walks up to the ball for instance? Does that count as "being placed"?
I think he is referring to law 13:

If, when a free kick is taken, an opponent is closer to the ball than the required
distance, the kick is retaken unless the advantage can be applied; but if a player
takes a free kick quickly and an opponent who is less than 9.15 m (10 yds) from
the ball intercepts it, the referee allows play to continue. However, an opponent
who deliberately prevents a free kick being taken quickly must be cautioned
for delaying the restart of play.
 
I think he is referring to law 13:

If, when a free kick is taken, an opponent is closer to the ball than the required
distance, the kick is retaken unless the advantage can be applied; but if a player
takes a free kick quickly and an opponent who is less than 9.15 m (10 yds) from
the ball intercepts it, the referee allows play to continue. However, an opponent
who deliberately prevents a free kick being taken quickly must be cautioned
for delaying the restart of play.
Yes, But @one stated that "once the ball is placed", the defenders need to start backing away. I'm wondering what he meant by that. The referee doesn't place the ball; otherwise, it would be ceremonial and that's not what we are talking about here. So I'm wondering what he considers to be the trigger for when defenders need to start backing away.
 
Yes, But @one stated that "once the ball is placed", the defenders need to start backing away. I'm wondering what he meant by that. The referee doesn't place the ball; otherwise, it would be ceremonial and that's not what we are talking about here. So I'm wondering what he considers to be the trigger for when defenders need to start backing away.
I think you're looking for a level of certainty and specificity that the LOTG generally doesn't have. It's unreasonable to expect the offender to have moved away before the offended-against team is ready to go - and the placement of the ball is usually a good indication that this time period is over and the offended-against team is ready to start playing. So that's a good indication that the other player shouldn't be actively obstructing the kick any longer. But that's a casual practical refereeing tip rather than a specific law.
 
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