TEST YOURSELF

In each of the following, decide which answer or answers are correct for NFHS, NCAA or IFAB rules/Laws. Solutions: p.

85 a. Penalty kick for team A. b. Offside. c. Offside and caution B2 for the reckless challenge. a. Goal. b. Retake the kick since the referee did not signal for the kick to be taken. c. Indirect free kick for the opponents. a. Indirect free kick for team A. b. Eject B1 and restart with a corner kick. c. Eject B1 and restart with an indirect free kick for team A for touching the ball a second time. a. Direct free kick for team B since holding is a more serious offense. b. Offside since A1 interfered with play. c. Goal. a. Offside. b. Goal. c. Offside and eject B1. the contact is retaliatory, the foul is committed from behind and/or the foul prevents the opponent from moving into space to join or rejoin the area of active play.

1. A1 is in an offside position, receives the ball and attempts to take a shot. Goalkeeper B2 runs toward the attacker and commits a reckless challenge inside the penalty area just after the referee has stopped play.

2. An attacking team is awarded a direct free kick close to the opponent’s penalty area. While the referee is establishing the required distance between the ball and the wall, A1 takes the free kick and passes the ball to A2, who scores a goal.

3. B1 takes a direct free kick and passes the ball to a goalkeeper, who slips on the grass and does not touch the ball. After that, A2 runs toward the ball so B1 must kick the ball out for a corner kick and denies the opponent an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.

4. A1 is in an offside position at the moment the ball is kicked toward the penalty area by A2. A1 moves and deliberately holds B3. A4, who was onside, receives the ball and scores a goal.

5. B1, second-to-the-last defender, steps off the field to place A2 in an offside position. The ball is played to A2, who shoots and scores.

Kicking

Kicking fouls are also direct free kick offenses. The referee must determine if the foul was committed carelessly, recklessly or with excessive force. Similar to tripping, kicking fouls are often committed as the result of mistimed or poorly executed tackles. Kicking fouls are committed when players make a swinging or thrusting motion with their leg and, as a result, their foot makes contact anywhere on the opponent’s body. Kicking also has some similarities with striking, as addressed in the 1/23 column, as players can commit kicking fouls as an act of violence against an opponent in anger or retaliation and can happen both near and away from active play.

Key elements:

•How much force is used?

•Is the movement of the opponent affected?

•Does the opponent maintain possession of the ball?

If the offense is committed as part of an attempted challenge for the ball and the contact is light or only slightly mistimed, you can consider allowing play to continue. If the player kicks an opponent off the ball, in an uncontrolled manner or with enough force to affect their movement or dispossess them of the ball, it should be sanctioned as a foul regardless of whether the player also made contact with the ball.

Misconduct should be considered if the player is making no attempt to play the ball, the contact is retaliatory or inflammatory, is committed with disproportionate force, the contact is above the ankle of the opponent or is made with the studs exposed. Kicking an opponent from behind or off the ball should be dealt with quickly; in many cases this is retaliatory or inflammatory and is likely to lead to a mass confrontation. Furthermore, if the incident isn’t managed appropriately, your ability to control the remainder of the match will be negatively affected. Players are trained to use their feet to control and pass the ball. It is unfortunate that they also may use their feet (kick) to strike an opponent in an attempt to injure.

As a referee, the ability to confidently identify the difference between a fair challenge and a potential foul will not only help improve your match control, but also help in your overall mastery of the Laws of the Game. Hopefully breaking it down into the key elements listed above helps every referee better understand these fouls as well as gives them the tools to quickly recognize and deal with them when they occur during matches.

Kara Honthumb, Darmouth, Mass., is a National Referee coach with U.S. Soccer. She began refereeing in 1999 after playing collegiate soccer. She has refereed matches in the NWSL as well as youth, local amateur, high school and college levels. She is the director of an annual referee academy held every Memorial Day weekend. *