Indirect free kicks

[drboobay]

When I was a player these were very common mostly for obstruction. Ot was not unusual to see indirect kicks in the penalty box.

I cannot remember the last indirect free kick in the box or obstruction foul I have seen. Have the rules changed along the way?

 

[HuffyCane]

When I was a player these were very common mostly for obstruction. Ot was not unusual to see indirect kicks in the penalty box.

I cannot remember the last indirect free kick in the box or obstruction foul I have seen. Have the rules changed along the way?

They are still called. Mainly for dangerous play without contact, dissent, and back pass to the keeper infractions.

Watch the referee’s arm. Once the ball is stationary and ready for play. He will raise his hand above his head on the whistle and lower it after the ball is kicked and then touches a second player. A referee will point his arm forward like a Nazi on the whistled foul if it is a direct kick and lower it a short time later as the ball is ready to play once stationary in the area of the foul.

A lot of fouls you think are direct are really indirect but we can’t hear the ref.

 

[lawpoke87]

I still see quite a few at the youth level from back passes to the goalie.

 

[TU_BLA]

So offside is an indirect but you will never see it as an attacking player in a box. The one's most frequently called are pass backs to the goalie who uses their hands, a double touch...i.e. the goalkeeper or someone on any free kick plays the ball and then plays it a 2nd time without it touching another player (you see these more frequently at youth levels, especially in rec soccer when a kid semi whiffs on a pass). The one you would see at the highest levels of play is a dangerous play without contact (high boot near an opponent's head/face OR trying to play a contested ball while on the ground in a vulnerable position).

Brady Moody was called for handling a pass back from his own player a couple years ago in a game vs UCSB (I think it was UCSB, definitely a CA school). It was actually a pretty bad call by the ref as the ball back hit a divot and hopped up on Brady and his 1st touch hit his shin and went backwards towards goal. FIFA had just changed the rule that allows a GK to use his/her hands if the initial touch or pass back may take the ball into the goal. FIFA also doesn't allow a "trick" on a touch back like this to allow the keeper to use his her hands. This would also result in an indirect free kick for the attackers.

You'd be shocked at how many coaches, rec and competitive, don't teach their players to know when a kick is direct vs indirect by the signal of the ref. I did a competitive tournament game recently where I called an indirect free kick for a dangerous play, raised my arm to clearly indicate it was indirect, and the kid taking the kick shoots and scores with no 2nd touch before going in. I wave the goal off and award an indirect to the other team. Coach is livid and I explain the indirect. He asked if I told the kid it was indirect and I told him I had my arm raised to indicate it was an indirect and he then asked again if I told the kid. Seriously?

 

[drboobay]

What about obstruction though? Is that still a thing? Have players simply gotten better at playing the ball when obstructing such that it is rare now?

BTW when I played goalkeepers handling back passes was legal. Long time ago.

 

[TU_BLA]

What about obstruction though? Is that still a thing? Have players simply gotten better at playing the ball when obstructing such that it is rare now?

Yeah, not sure that's a real thing anymore. It's either a foul or not a foul. I know what you're talking about but that is not the criteria on determining the foul. Players will still screen the ball and see it out or see it back to the keeper but they're also savvy enough to do so without creating contact with the opponent trying to get the ball. More often than not you see the opponent run the defender over. Now, you will see a player play a touch around a defender and the defender step in on a poor challenge and the attacker will run into the defender. This is a simple foul. If the ref deems it was intentional and prevented a promising attack, then the defender can be shown a yellow. In any case, this is always a direct free kick and if the foul occurred in the box, it's a PK. The only instances you will see an indirect free kick in the box for the attacking team are the situations mentioned previously.

 

[drboobay]

Yeah, not sure that's a real thing anymore. It's either a foul or not a foul. I know what you're talking about but that is not the criteria on determining the foul. Players will still screen the ball and see it out or see it back to the keeper but they're also savvy enough to do so without creating contact with the opponent trying to get the ball. More often than not you see the opponent run the defender over. Now, you will see a player play a touch around a defender and the defender step in on a poor challenge and the attacker will run into the defender. This is a simple foul. If the ref deems it was intentional and prevented a promising attack, then the defender can be shown a yellow. In any case, this is always a direct free kick and if the foul occurred in the box, it's a PK. The only instances you will see an indirect free kick in the box for the attacking team are the situations mentioned previously.

That must be a rule change some time in the past few decades.

 

[HuffyCane]

That must be a rule change some time in the past few decades.

Yes. Obstruction was removed from the rule book after the 96 Euros and replaced with impeding progress. It’s a direct kick offense. Law 12.

 

[drboobay]

Yes. Obstruction was removed from the rule book after the 96 Euros and replaced with impeding progress. It’s a direct kick offense. Law 12.

Aha. I see the explanation here. You can see why it would result in a big change in the number of indirect free kicks. Big change in 1997.

What Is an Obstruction in Soccer? – Authority Soccer

authoritysoccer.com

For those who were not playing soccer before 1997, here is the situation and why it would make a noticeable difference. Back then, it was rare to see a game without an indirect free kick in the box for obstruction. As a defender, obstruction and passes back to a handling goalkeeper were my two favorite plays!

"The punishment for an impending offense is an indirect free kick.

If you start paying attention, you will see that it is not very common in soccer for a referee to call an indirect free kick.

The old rule of obstruction contemplated contact. So if a player moved into a rival’s path, perhaps forcing the contact, an obstruction foul was called.

But as the old saying goes, “done the law, done the snare.” Defenders would prevent a forward’s advance by blocking the way and would be punished with an indirect free kick inside the box.

That sounds like an excellent deal to trade a certain goal for an indirect free kick."

Only took me 26 years to notice the change.

 

[drboobay]

So any of ye young wipersnappers realize that defenders like ole drboobay could step in front of an attacking player in the penalty box when he pushed the ball based the ole drboobay, keep the attacker from getting to said ball, and only get penalized by an indirect kick?

That's how I learned the game. That along with communicating closely with my goalkeeper anytime I was under pressure pretty much in any position, because I could always pass it to him and he could pick it up with his hands.

I knew about the new rules about goalkeepers handling the ball of course because I was still playing recreationally. But had no idea about the obstruction rule change because I don't follow much soccer outside of the World Cup.