Question:
In an English Championship league fixture, Michael Duberry was asked to remove his white under-shorts as they clashed with the all orange Reading strip. I recall this ruling coming in during the 1990s when multicolored “cycle shorts” became the rage, and it was made mandatory to match them to the teams shorts in terms of color. I also recall reading a FA ref manual that states something to the effect that they “must not extend below the knee”, which would outlaw the full length tights worn by Giggs, Ronaldo and John Barnes. Is this rule still in place? And what about the sleeve color of under shirts (with the new trend of short-sleeve club shirts with lycra under shirts, must they match?)

USSF answer (December 22, 2008):
Law 4 tells us:
Basic Equipment
The basic compulsory equipment of a player comprises the following separate items:
– a jersey or shirt with sleeves- if undergarments are worn, the color of the sleeve shall be the same main color as the sleeve of the jersey or shirt
– shorts – if undershorts are worn, they are of the same main color as the shorts

Shorts by definition do not extend below the knee — at least not nowadays.

The tights worn by players do not fall into the category of shorts and should not be treated as shorts.

Referees need to exercise common sense and not go out of their way to upset the other participants over trifling matters.…

Question:
I think the May 21, 2008 memo should have included a reference to page 111 of the Interpretations http://images.ussoccer.com/Documents/cms/ussf/2008-2009%20LOTG%20Interpretation%20for%20Referees.pdf where the only violation mentioned for a “pass back” to the goalkeeper is “…deliberately kicked to him by a teammate…” Or maybe include part of the Memorandum in the Interpretations.  I can see coaches feeling justified in berating a referee if the referee called the offence as specified in the Memorandum if the coach was only aware of the “pass back” violation as specified in the Interpretations.

Just a thought

USSF answer (December 17, 2008):
1.  When the May 21 2008 Memo on official changes in the Laws of the Game was prepared and published, the current year’s Lawbook was not available and so we could not know what the Interpretations would say on any topic, much less this one.

2.  When we were ready to prepare and publish the supplemental memorandum, we reviewed the Lawbook (including the Interpretations section) closely to identify those areas where IFAB had changed the language enough that the “clarification” appeared to modify our current understanding and implementation of the topic.  The topic of the “pass back to the keeper” was not one of them.  Nothing appeared in the Lawbook (or the Interpretations section) that significantly altered any of our earlier memos on this topic or what is plainly stated in Advice to Referees.…

Question:
A goalkeeper gains possession of the ball in their area. They get ready to punt the ball. They let go of the ball at the top of the penalty area line. They release the ball from their hands in the area but their foot makes contact with the ball during the act of punting outside the penalty area. Is this a violation? Does the entire act of punting have to take place in the penalty area? Or is it no violation. because the ball was released from the keeper’s hands within the penalty area?

USSF answer (December 16, 2008):
The answers to your questions in the order in which they were asked:
1. No.
2. No.
3. Yes.…

Question:
This was forwarded to me, and if i understand the new interpretation, it might be legal – can’t say i like it, however.

==http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/Darf-man-so-einen-Penalty-schiessen/story/14850459

Please evaluate and comment.

USSF answer (December 11, 2008):
An excerpt from Advice to Referees 14.9 is useful here:

Infringements after the referee’s signal but before the ball is in play may be committed by the kicker, the goalkeeper, or by any of their teammates.  Violations of Law 14 by the kicker in particular include back heeling the ball (14.12), running past the ball and then backing up to take the kick, excessively changing directions in the run to the ball or taking an excessively long run to the ball (which, in the opinion of the referee, results in an unnecessary delay in taking the kick), or making any motion of the hand or arm which (in the opinion of the referee) is clearly intended to confuse or misdirect the attention of the ‘keeper.  In almost all such cases, the referee should let the kick proceed and deal with the violation in accordance with the chart below [not included here], which outlines the proper restarts for clear infringements of Law 14.  However, in the case of a kicker creating an unnecessary delay in taking the kick, the referee should intervene, if possible, warn the kicker to proceed properly, and signal again for the restart.

In response to a question similar to yours, we provided this answer in 2001; it is fully in line with the latest guidance from the IFAB and FIFA:

USSF answer (April 25, 2001):
Feinting at a penalty kick, provided it is done without lapsing into unsporting behavior, is allowed. The judgment of unsporting behavior is at the discretion of the referee, who should remember that players are permitted to deceive their opponents at the taking of free kicks outside the penalty area using well rehearsed drills. The penalty kick should be treated in the same way. Remember that the penalty is awarded because of an offense by the defending team. One example of unsporting behavior would be to step over the ball, hesitate, and then bring the foot back again to kick the ball.

We might add to the earlier response that the kicker’s behavior must not, in the opinion of the referee, unduly delay the taking of the kick.

Any instance of unsporting behavior must be in the opinion of the referee, based on that particular act in that particular game at that particular moment of the game. Although there are certain actions that will always be unsporting behavior, we cannot arbitrarily set a list of actions that must be called as unsporting behavior in the case of feinting at a penalty kick. The referee has to take responsibility for some of his own decisions.

The officials on the game clearly believed the decision to be correct. In our opinion, the action of the kicker rides close to the edge but is legal. Apart from the fact that he did not do any of the things we list in the Advice as being examples of a kicker violation of Law 14 (see above) — there is no requirement that the kicker RUN to the ball at all. He could walk, trot, sprint, or even just stand behind the ball. So he ran to the ball and stopped. Suppose he had started walking toward the ball and then, from about 1-2 yards away, broke into a sprint before taking the kick. Would this have been illegal?

We invite our readers to go to the URL in question and decide for themselves the correct answer: http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/sport/fussball/Darf-man-so-einen-Penalty-schiessen/story/14850459

NOTE: The German title asks the question, “May someone shoot a penalty kick this way?”…

Question:
I understand that law 8 states that starts/restarts at beginnings of periods and after goals should be from forward movement of a ball touched once by the kicking team. My question is about clarification of some technicalities.

If a ball is played directly backwards then it would not be in play and should be retaken unless double touched. 1.) if the receiver stops the ball and then kicks it forward putting it in play, why wouldn’t it be a an IFK from there. Unless because it was not put into play from the center mark. 2.) same scenario except second player kicks directly without stopping.

Similar to an IFK where the ball could be initially kicked, but if not put into play, and a subsequent result (such as goal) would be discounted because the ball wasn’t in play.

USSF answer (December 10, 2008):
The kick-off, like the throw-in, is simply a way to get the game restarted when the ball has left the field. It is, and should be, regarded as a relaxed and less tense way of doing so. We allow trifling infringements of Law 15 in this regard, and we should do the same in the case of the kick-off.

While the procedure you describe, playing the ball backwards, etc., is not what we would allow on a free kick and certainly not what is required by Law 8, it is commonly accepted practice for kick-offs at all levels of soccer. We have seen it allowed even in high-level competitions throughout the world.

What you describe does not meet the requirements of Law 8 for a kick-off. As always, however, the issue is indeed whether the action is a violation (it is), but we must consider whether the violation should/must/needs to be handled by a stoppage and a retake of the restart. Unless the player performing the kick-off incorrectly gains some unfair benefit, we are inclined to consider the violation trifling (on par with a teammate illegally standing just over the midfield line on a kick-off to “receive” the ball). As it occurs at the very highest levels on a routine basis, you might, at most, warn the kicker that what just happened was a technical violation of the Law. However, we would recommend that you consider it trifling and punish it only if the players begin to take even greater advantage of the referee’s kindness.…