Category: Ball in Play

Ball in Play

Ball in Play

Dropped Ball Issues

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Rob, a U13 – U19 referee, asks:

Law 8 The Start and Restart of Play (2020)
Just want to make sure, that a drop ball restart can be directly kicked into goal.
Assume Red player A1 awarded drop ball outside Blue penalty area (after some incident), Blue team creates defensively wall, everybody ready, referee drops ball, ball lands softly, player A1 kicks directly into goal. Goal counts and restart is kickoff.
Similarly, Blue defensive wall players can immediately rush the Red player A1 as soon as ball touches ground because ball is in play, right?

Answer

As for your first scenario, no, it cannot (well, actually, it “can” enter the goal but the goal cannot be counted).  Law 8 lays all this out clearly.

Regarding any dropped ball restart, a goal can only be counted if and only if the ball, once dropped and touches the ground, has been contacted by at least the foot/feet of the player to whom the ball was dropped and then be contacted a second time by any lawful contact (i.e., any body part other than the hand or arm – unless this second contact was the goalkeeper within his/her own penalty area) with a second player.

Here are some scenarios that may help to clarify this.  Ball is dropped, hits the ground, and

  1. Is kicked by A5 to his/her teammate A12 who then kicks the ball into Team B’s goal.  Goal scored.
  2. B23 plays the ball with his/her foot and continues dribbling toward Team B’s goal, at which point B23 makes a shot on goal and the ball enters the net.  No goal, goal kick coming out.
  3. B17 makes a successful direct shot on Team A’s goal.  No goal, goal kick coming out.
  4. A10 attempts a pass to his/her own goalkeeper from the left outside Team A’s penalty area.  A1, the goalkeeper, grabs for the ball but it slides off his/her hands and goes into Team A’s goal.  Goal scored.
  5. A10 attempts a pass to his/her own goalkeeper from the left outside Team A’s penalty area.  The ball goes over the goalkeeper’s head and then into the goal.  No goal, corner kick restart.
  6. B11 plays the ball but inadvertently kicks from the side of his/her foot to an open area. B11 quickly runs to the ball and kicks it again.  The ball goes to B17 who dribbles toward Team A’s goal, shoots, and scores.  Goal scored.   Note that (as in scenario 2 above), unlike every other restart, the “second touch” rule doesn’t apply to dropped ball restarts.

As for your second scenario involving the requirement for all opponents to withdraw 4 ½ yards from the dropped ball restart location, this is handled exactly the same as with any other “required distance” restart.  Opponents required to be any certain distance from the restart location, may not approach closer than the minimum distance until the ball is in play (i.e., when the dropped ball hits the ground in this case).  Failure to do so is a cautionable offense.  Similarly, the failure to get back to the minimum distance is also cautionable … and, if requested by the attacking team, the referee can, if needed (as would also be the case in a free kick), to step in to enforce the minimum distance but, in this case, no whistle is required since it is the referee who initiates play by dropping the ball.…

Ball in Play

Soccer and Physics

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Ben, an adult amateur player, asks:

Why does the air pressure affect the distance the ball travels?

Answer

Interesting question – ready-made for an answer chock full of equations and lots of physics, but we’ll rein in our enthusiasm and try not to get technical.  The answer depends on what the ball is traveling on.

When the ball is in continuous contact with the surface of the pitch (i.e., it is rolling), the pressure of the ball determines the rigidity of the surface of the ball (higher pressure = more rigidity) which in turn has a measurable though not easily visible effect on the total surface area of the ball that is in actual contact with the ground’s surface.  At higher pressures, the area of contact is smaller (because the ball is “rounder”) and thus there is less friction on the passage of the ball across the pitch surface.  There is a smaller, secondary effect at higher pressure caused by a somewhat greater “lift” that makes the ball ride a bit higher on the pitch surface.  Remember, a ball is, in effect, a type of balloon – the more air there is in it, the lighter it is and, as with “roundness,” this reduces slightly the contact surface area.  In short, a higher pressure produces a speedier ball, all other things equal.

However, the other medium on which a ball travels is the air.  Here, again, air pressure acts similarly (see above).  A rounder ball (a function of air pressure)  encounters less “drag” while in the air and has greater buoyancy.  There is a third factor regarding a ball traveling in the air that is not found when a ball is rolling on the ground and that is the fact that, inevitably, a ball in the air comes down and makes contact with the ground.  Holding all other factors equal, a higher ball pressure makes for a higher bounce (a factor that you can often actually hear by listening to the sound of the contact – a ping rather than a thud in extreme cases!).  Now, however, something else comes into play (no pun intended) and that is the angle at which the ball is traveling just prior to contact with the ground.  It isn’t speed as such (as is the case with rolling) but it does directly affect distance – which, in a soccer game, may be just as important as the speed of the ball.  With higher air pressure comes greater bounce when the contact occurs – the more acute the angle, the greater the distance for any given air pressure as a result of the bounce effect.

So, the higher the pressure (within the range permitted by Law 2, of course), the greater is the rolling speed and the greater the rolling speed, the longer is the distance the ball will roll (assuming someone from the other team doesn’t stop it!).  This generalization also assumes a relatively constant consistency in the surface (one of the reasons why, again all other things equal, soccer balls travel faster on artificial surfaces relative to grass, and faster on short grass than taller grass).  Further, for a ball launched into the air, the higher the pressure is, the greater the distance traveled both before and after “the bounce” for contact at any angle of less than 90 degrees behind the ball (disregard all forms of spin … it gets too complicated).

There — not a single formal physics lecture and no equations!  Instinctively, though, a home team which has been coached to engage in fast play will likely provide the Referee with game balls at the upper end of the allowable pressure range.  A different team, which may not like or be used to fast play, is likely to provide game balls at the lower end of the pressure range.  It is not the Referee’s job to deliberately favor one team or another by changing an allowable ball pressure up or down based on personal preferences.  If it is in the allowable range, leave it alone.  If it is not, give it to the home team (it’s their ball anyway) for correction but be sure to check a corrected ball again and, again, leave it alone if it is in the allowable range.…

2016 Law Changes

When Is the PK Over?

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Robert, a referee of older youth players, asks:

A penalty kick is completed when the ball stops moving. How about giving me some examples when a ball stops moving during a penalty kick situation.

Answer

The International Board, in its infinite wisdom when it rewrote the Laws of the Game to make them simpler and easier to understand, wasn’t entirely successful in several of its changes.  This is one of them.  Note that almost the exact same language was used in Laws 10 and 14 to say when the kick was complete:

Law 10:  The kick is completed when the ball stops moving, goes out of play or the referee stops play for any infringement of the Laws

Law 14:  The penalty kick is completed when the ball stops moving, goes out of play or the referee stops play for any infringement of the Laws.

More to the point of your question, both Laws include “ball stops moving” as one of the ways that a kick from the mark (KFTM) or a penalty kick (PK) may be considered ended.  This works fairly well for a KFTM and it also works for a PK taken in extended time.  As long as the ball continues to move while making contact with any one or combination of the goalkeeper, goalframe, or the ground, a valid goal can be scored.  Yet, at the same time, in each case no one else is allowed to participate in the play.  Thus, if a PK in extended time or a KFTM struck the crossbar, rebounded backward onto the ground in front of the goal, but had acquired a spin which resulted in the ball now rolling forward a few feet into the goal, that goal would count.  The same would be true if the ball rebounded from the crossbar to the back of the goalkeeper and then rebounded from there into the goal.

A regular, ordinary PK, however, is a bit different because, except for the original kicker, the ball can be played by anyone once it is in play (kicked and moved forward).  During that time, it is entirely possible that the ball could be motionless … and it doesn’t matter because, with one exception, no one particularly cares when, whether, or even if the PK is “over.”

The exception is if an outside agent interferes with play at the taking of a penalty kick.  Ordinarily, if play is stopped because of outside agent interference, the restart is a dropped ball.  We can just picture some spectator, who supports the Orange team which is just about ready to defend against a PK, thinking that, if he or she ran onto the field after the PK was taken and interfered, the referee would have to stop play and then restart with a dropped ball (effectively taking the PK away from the hated opponent)!  So the Laws of the Game provide that, if the interference occurs while the ball is moving toward the goal and hasn’t made contact as yet with any part of the goalframe or the goalkeeper, the restart will be a retake of the PK.  Until the ball stops moving forward (not just stops moving), the PK is not “over” at least for the purpose of retaking the PK rather than having a dropped ball in the case of outside agent interference.  The implicit theory of this provision is that a team which has been awarded a PK should have a reasonable opportunity to score and any event which interferes with that during the period from the ball being kicked and the ball reaching the immediate area of the goal should result in the offended team getting to redo the PK after all the dust has settled.…

Ball in Play

The Dropped Ball

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A referee asks:

Situation 1: There is no ‘double touch’ rule applicable to a dropped ball, right?  Only to all other restarts? Because the moment it touches the ground, even if simultaneously touched by a player, it is in play….& double touch rule doesn’t apply to the ground (which is what put it in play).

Situation 2:  The player who is the first to touch the ball…if he/she pulls it away or pushes it away & dribbles it, can that player shoot on goal?  What if, with his/her first touch, the player passes it to his/her other foot, which means the other foot or the one that first touched the ball = can be used for a shot on goal + a successful shot on goal can be allowed, as it is not a ‘direct kick on goal’ from a dropped ball?

Answer — Situation 1

It is correct that there is no “double touch” (also known as a “2nd touch”) violation possible on a dropped ball, but not for the reason you suggest.  It is not “the ground” that started the sequence of events which led to the ball being in play, it was the referee.  All second touch violations are based on and apply only to the person who performs the restart and only if that person is a player.  Touching the ground is merely a requirement for the ball to be in play, the same as the ball leaving the penalty area is one of the requirements for the ball to be in play on a goal kick.

Answer — Situation 2

Three people are important in understanding a dropped ball restart: the referee (who does it), the first player to make contact with the ball (who gains possession), and all other players on the field regardless of which team they are on.  The referee initiates the restart. If there is no “first player who contacts,” this means that the ball left the field directly from the drop and the Law requires that the ball be retrieved and dropped again at the same location.  Once you have a “first person who contacts,” a different dynamic takes over.  The referee goes back to officiating and this “first contact player” (let’s make this easy and say A12) takes center stage.  A12, in all respects but one, can play the ball in any way permitted by the Law.  This means, of course, that A12 can move the ball anywhere on the field by dribbling it (either or both feet), by heading the ball, by passing it to a teammate (or an opponent), and so forth.  The single thing A12 cannot do is score a goal (against either team!).

Notice, we didn’t say can’t “shoot on goal” because, in fact, that is something A12 could certainly do — it’s just that, if A12 did so and the ball went into either goal, the goal cannot be counted.  Using the left foot and then the right foot while dribbling makes no difference because it stays the same person and the rule applies to the person, not to one or the other of his/her feet.  Nor does it make any difference if A12 pushes the ball into space, then runs to the ball and continues moving it by any lawful means.  And it also makes no difference if A12 kicks the ball such that it deflects off the referee (or a crossbar or goalpost) and goes back to A12, who proceeds to continue moving the ball — A12 remains the “first contact player.”

So where do all players other than A12 come into this thing?  Once any of the “other” players (regardless of team) makes legal contact with the ball, the special identity of being the “first contact player” totally disappears — even to the point of A12 passing the ball to A43 who then passes it back to A12 who then shoots on goal … and scores (legally).  The moment A43 made contact with the ball, A12 is no longer the “first contact player”and now, along with any other player, can score legally.

By the way, if A12 did put the ball into the net without any other player making contact with the ball, the restart would be a goal kick if it was the opponent’s net but a corner kick if it was A12’s own net.
…
Ball in Play

What Is a Kick?

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A HS/College coach asks:

Is it within the laws of the game to “lift” the ball (meaning to slide your foot under and propel the ball up in the air — as opposed to striking or rolling it with your sole) on a kick-off, corner, free kick, etc.

Answer

Yes.  We think.  Probably.  Actually, the only place which specifically deals with your question is in Law 13 (Free Kicks) where it states that “a free kick can be taken by lifting the ball with a foot or both feet simultaneously” (2016/2017 edition).  So, at least for direct and indirect free kicks, the answer is clear.

What we don’t know, because the Law doesn’t mention it, is whether the same “ruling” would apply to such other restarts as penalty kicks, kick-offs, corner kicks, or goal kicks.  Because, in general, all restarts involving kicking a ball are similar in many respects, our conclusion would be that, in practice, the “lift with the foot” approved for free kicks would apply to all “kick the ball” restarts, but with the proviso that all such restarts must still be governed by any other characteristics specified in the Law.  For example, a penalty kick must still “go forward” even if lifted up.  Another example would be that, even if the ball is put into play by lifting it up with the foot (or both feet), a player who did so and then headed or volleyed the ball would still be guilty of a second touch violation.

Perhaps the reason the Law is silent on whether the “lift with the foot” kick applies to kicked-ball restarts other than free kicks is that it really makes little sense (at least as regards to the purposes and dynamics of these other restarts) to kick the ball in this particular way.  Why, for example, would a player want to take a goal kick or penalty kick using that technique?

In any event, however, the answer is absolutely clear with regards to free kicks, and probably the same for any other kicked-ball restart.…

Ball in Play

ADJUSTING TO THE MODERN GAME: WHEN IS THE BALL IN PLAY FROM A FREE KICK?

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Question:
I have been trying to get an answer regarding the taking of an indirect free kick. One source has an answer on its site which contradicts the answer I found on the US Soccer site. My thought is if the ball needs to be kicked and move, that this should happen on the initial touch otherwise the ball has not been put into play correctly and should be retaken. This being the case on the any restart not properly put into play. Could you please clarify the answer as the advice to referees does not clearly state what should happen in the event of not putting the ball into play on the 1st touch.

Answer: February 6, 2014
The referee needs to use common sense and apply practices currently accepted in modern soccer, no matter how much these may differ from what we have learned and applied in the past. On any free kick, whether direct or indirect, the Law is clear: The ball must be moved a minimum distance with the foot, preferably in a kicking motion. In many cases, this means that the ball may be stepped on, although it still must move some minimum distance. If the referee does not see some minimal movement on the initial kick, then the ball is not yet in play and the kick must be taken correctly.

NOTE:
Yes, old timers, this is not quite the answer you are used to from me, but we need to move in synch with what the rest of the world does, and this is it. Just remember that the final decision is up to the referee on the spot, not you or me or anyone else.…

"Inventive" Refs

GOAL KICKS IN U8 SOCCER

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Question:
My child plays U8 soccer. There is no goal box, only a penalty area. When taking a goal kick, the ref insists the ball sit on the corner of the penalty area. The offense of a team we played either stood immediately in front of or rushed the ball while it was being kicked. For larger fields, the offense has to stay back because of the goal box being inside the penalty box. since they’re one in the same for us, can the offense stand immediately in front of the ball?

Answer (May 9, 2012):
According to USYS Rules for U8, there is no penalty area in U8 soccer; they use only a goal area, which has two lines drawn at right angles to the goal line three (3) yards from the inside each goalpost. These lines extend into the field of play for a distance of three (3) yards and are joined by a line drawn parallel with the goal line. The area bounded by these lines and the goal line is the goal area. The opponents must remain outside the goal area and at least four (4) yards from the ball until it is in play. There is absolutely no requirement that the kick must be taken from one of the corners of the goal area, just as there is no such requirement in adult soccer

Addendum:
One of our readers, Greg Brooks, supplied this useful information:

I thought I’d chime in on the U-8 question posted today. In a league
which I officiate, they allow the U-8 players to take goal kicks from
the edge of the penalty area instead of the goal box. I believe the
required minimum distance is 8 yards, so that should apply to those
goal kicks in such U-8 games, correct? I’ve never had a problem with
failure to maintain the required distance, but this gives me something
to think about.

…
Ball in Play

PRE-EXISTING CONDITION

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Question:
The following occurred in an official match in Argentina’s “Torneo Argentino C”: A forward kicks the ball towards the goal, the ball hits the crossbar and goes up, then hits a branch that was inside the field area and goes down. A defender takes the ball with his hands, and the referee signals a penalty.

Questions: Was the branch an outside agent? Should have the referee signaled a dropped ball instead of a penalty?

Please advise.

Source (with video):
http://www.canchallena.com/1451320-la-pelota-pego-en-un-arbol-el-defensor-la-tomo-con-la-mano-y-el-arbitro-cobro-penal
also at

USSF answer (February 25, 2012):
We agree with the referee that the ball was still in play. The tree limb overhanging the field is a pre-existing condition, meaning that play is the same as if the ball had hit the crossbar or the referee — it is still in play.

One is unlikely to find a tree overhanging a field in which the game is played under a FIFA-run competition, as there would certainly be no tree to worry about.…

"Inventive" Refs

BALL IN THE AIR AT “FINAL WHISTLE”

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Question:
When is the referee authority end? Does it end as soon as he whistles the end of the game? We had a game when the referee blew his whistle 3 times to signify the end of the game while a ball was still in the air. After the whistle was blown, the girls stop playing and the ball continued into the net. The referee then signified no goal and then changed it to a goal. The tournament head referee said it was a bad call, but upheld the goal. So how can that be if the referee duties and authority are over as soon as he blows the whistle.

Can he then change his mind, but he doesn’t have any authority at that point. Nonetheless that the call shouldn’t have been a goal since he indicated the game was over. His excuse was he accidently blew his whistle. You don’t accidently blow your whistle three times. Just looking for some clarification.

USSF answer (January 16, 2012):
This is not a case of the referee’s authority — which ends when he has left the environs of the field, not as soon as the final whistle is blown. Rather , it is a case of poor refereeing and a particularly uninformed decision by the “tournament head referee.”

By tradition, custom, and practice, the referee’s whistle brings the game to a complete and immediate halt, whether the period of play is over or not. If the ball is in the air at that moment, life is hard, but no goal can be scored, no matter that the whistle was blown “accidentally.”…

Advice to Referees

DEALING WITH PRE-EXISTING CONDITIONS

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Question:
Advice – dealing with Appurtenances – Pre-existing Conditions

Per Advice dealing with appurtenances, 1.8(c) -pre-existing conditions, specifically overhanging trees. We have several venues that have overhanging tree limbs on one end of the field that happens to behind the goal area/line. If the overhanging tree limbs ” do not affect one team or more adversely than the other are considered to be part of the field”. There have been two examples where the attacking team has to take a corner kick and the player taking the kick happens to kick it into the overhanging tree limbs, the referee then told the players that the ball is still in play because it did not leave the field of play. In another example, one team who was attacking their opponent’s goal had their player take a shot on goal, the ball was going over the cross-bar but for the tree limbs, the ball stopped and dropped in front of their opponent’s goalkeeper penalty area and the goal-keeper was able to retrieve the ball, since the ball was still in play, the goalkeeper then was able to punt the ball across the field and their forward was able to score a goal in a matter of seconds. A third example, occurred when the ball was kicked by an attacking team, the goal-keeper was out of position and the ball hit the tree limbs and the ball rolled across the goal-line and underneath the cross bar, thus a goal was scored. In the final example, the attacker took a shot and the ball hit the tree limbs yet the ball was still in play and the team-mate was able to score because the goal-keeper turned one way and the ball fell to the side of him inside of the goal area. In these four examples, how should the referee crew handle these examples. Should they tell the teams ahead of time, should they stop play and do a drop-ball or should the referee say “play-on” and where would play be restarted?

Thank you.

USSF answer (May 26, 2011):
Advice 1.8(c) is pretty clear and we believe it covers your situations fully::

(c) Pre-existing conditions
These are things on or above the field which are not described in Law 1 but are deemed safe and not generally subject to movement. These include trees overhanging the field, wires running above the field, and covers on sprinkling or draining systems. They do not affect one team more adversely than the other and are considered to be a part of the field. If the ball leaves the field after contact with any item considered under the local ground rules of the field to be a pre-existing condition, the restart is in accordance with the Law, based on which team last played the ball. (Check with the competition for any local ground rules.)

Note: The difference between non-regulation appurtenances and pre-existing conditions is that, if the ball makes contact with something like uprights or crossbar superstructure, it is ruled out of play even if the contact results in the ball remaining on the field. Where there is a pre-existing condition (such as an overhanging tree limb), the ball remains in play even if there is contact, as long as the ball itself remains on the field. Referees must be fully aware of and enforce any rules of the competition authority or field owner regarding non-regulation appurtenances.

There is no bias in this guidance toward one team or the other, as each team must play one-half of the game under these conditions.

As the competition appears to play many games at these fields, it would seem that all teams should already be well aware of the conditions before they get to the field. However, the referee could be proactive and remind the teams of the conditions and that the ball will remain in play.

The only permanent solution we can recommend to avoid such events is that the limbs might be lopped off by a trained tree-removal person (with the permission of the landowner, of course).

Finally, let us add that our advice applies only to those portions of the trees that actually overhang the field; not to other portions of the same tree.…