Question:
A recent event during a local cup: Player A is defending a corner kick, facing towards the corner flag/goal near the opposite end of the box. The ball goes over the defence and player A, bounces, and he goes for the clearance. Player A, however, doesn’t notice player B (from the attacking team) coming from behind him to head the ball. When player A makes contact with the ball, it’s at head height (and hence, so is his foot), and he catches player B on the head/face with his boot. Player A did, however, make contact with the ball first (or roughly at the same time). This was all inside the box.

Should this play be a penalty or an indirect free kick for the attacking team?

Thanks!

USSF answer (August 28, 2009):
We have a hard time buying the scenario completely. If player B is “coming from behind,” how then does A manage to kick B’s “head/face”? And it would be rare that a ball at head height is more naturally played with the head than with the foot. Any player playing a ball at head height with his foot must take more than average care that an opponent is not nearby and, failing that, has been CARELESS (which is what defends the minimum foul level — i. e., with no accompanying misconduct. The referee should look not at what a player INTENDS as a valid basis for judging a foul (other than handling) — but should look, instead, at the results of the player’s actions.

Only the referee on this game can make that call, whether in favor of player A or of player B.…

Question:
Regarding the recent IFAB/USSF memorandum about Defenders Leaving the Field of Play:

A fellow referee recently told me that we should interpret the memo to mean that if the defender leaves the field along one of the touchlines, for the purpose of attempting to put an attacker in an offside position, that we should judge his position to be the point on the touchline where he/she actually left the field — not necessarily the closest point on the touchline to where the player actually is at the moment the AR has to judge offside position. What the ref is telling me seems like the fair thing to do, but I don’t see that wording in the memorandum. And it could make a big difference.

Example: The second-to-last defender leaves the field of play over a touchline some 20 yards out from the endline. The third-to-last defender is 30 yards out from the endline and on the field of play.

While play continues, the second-to-last defender who is now off the field of play begins to walk up the field, but off the field, away from his team’s own endline. He makes it to a point off the field that is 35 yards from the endline in an effort to make the teammate at 30 yards the new second-to-last. Now, an attacker, who has made it to the 25 yard mark becomes actively involved in play from a pass by a teammate who was farther from the goal they are attacking when it was passed. Offside or not? According to the memorandum, it seems yes.

According to the fellow referee I mentioned above – no.

Am I missing something?

USSF answer (August 20, 2009):
The defender who leaves the field in the normal course of play or in an attempt to make an attacker be in an offside position is to be treated as on the field at the point on the goal line or touchline closest to where the defender left.  

So, you ask, what happens if the defender moves while off the field, just as in your example?  For offside purposes, the player who has left the field over the touchline remains at the spot where he or she left. The same holds true if the player leaves the field across the goal line near the far post and, while the same play is continuing, comes around the far corner and is off the field (still) but now several yards up from the goal line.  In that case, too, the player remains “on the goal line closest to where he left the field” for purposes of determining the second to last defender.  In other words, the player’s movement while off the field makes no difference.…

Question:
This question concerns becoming involved in play in determining an offside infraction:

U15 boys game, attacking team is highly skilled. A pass is made by an attacking player to a team mate in the offside position. The ball actually passes between the legs of the offside player who turned toward the ball as it passed. The AR determined that a ball that close to a skilled player caused the player to be involved in the play, although he did not in fact touch the ball before it was touched by a team mate who came to the ball from an on-side position, and signified the offside infraction. Whether the player in the offside position misplayed the ball by being nutmegged by his team mate or whether he intentional dummied the ball is speculation. Had this been a ball played to open space with both an offside an onside player going for the ball, then clearly when the onside player first touched the ball no infraction would have occurred. Is it however reasonable for a referee to be of the opinion that this player was involved in play and be guilty of the offside infraction in this situation?

USSF answer (August 17, 2009):
If the player in the offside position did not interfere with the ability of an opponent to play or see the ball and did not draw undue attention from an opponent, then that player has not become involved in play. In that case, the assistant referee should have kept the flag down, and the referee should not have called offside. We recommend that the AR wait and see what happens.…

Question:
On a kick by the defense from within its own penalty area (could also be a goal kick), what is the restart if the ball is kicked backwards and goes over the goal line between the boundaries marked by the sides of the penalty area?

I’m asking because this scenario was posed to me by a USSF State Referee. His amazing explanation, which he said was confirmed by [a high-ranking referee and USSF manager], was as follows. The penalty area only has three sides: the line in the field that is 44 yards long (the “18 yard line”) and the two lines on the sides. The line that is at the back of the penalty area is the goal line; the goal line is not part of the penalty area.

Therefore, a ball that is kicked out over the goal line, as described, has left the penalty area and is in play briefly as it crosses the goal line. Therefore the restart is a corner kick because the last player that touched the ball was a defender.

I disagree. Law 16 says “The ball is in play when it is kicked directly out of the penalty area.” In my scenario, the ball has not gone into play; therefore the kick must be retaken.

A corner kick would be the correct restart only if the ball exited the penalty area and crossed the goal line between the corner flag and the side of the penalty area….but that is not the scenario we’re discussing (I was shocked by the State Referee’s answer, therefore I confirmed exactly where he said the ball went out).

Please help. Thank you.

USSF answer (July 29, 2009):
We are extremely disappointed with the “USSF State Referee” who has falsely quoted the high-ranking referee and USSF manager.  His explanation is indeed “amazing”; however, the correct information for this situation is entry-level material.  In this situation the ball must leave the penalty area and enter the field to be considered in play.  If the ball leaves the field without exiting the penalty area and entering the field proper, the kick is retaken.…