I came across the highlights of the Sutton v Barrow game and Barrow thought they had snatched a draw in the last minute with a free-kick from their own half. Unfortunately, after a deliberation, the ref disallowed the goal because it had been scored direct from an indirect free-kick. It was actually very similar to Sutton's goal without a striker to tap it in.
https://youtu.be/ldBNtSmAeng
Did make me wonder if an indirect free-kick has much place in the game these days. The only ones I can think of is goalkeepers handling a back-pass (which does make sense as it could happen in the box but is extremely rare) and offside free-kicks which have to take place in your own half by definition
Does anyone know what other relatively common offences leas to an indirect free-kick? Should offsides give a direct free-kick since if you can score from your own half you might deserve the goal?
Indirect free-kicks
posted on 14/8/22
Wikipedia says this:
offside[15]
illegal handling by the goalkeeper within the penalty area[16]
preventing the goalkeeper from releasing the ball from the hands[16]
kicking (or attempting to kick) the ball when the goalkeeper is in the process of releasing it[16]
playing in a dangerous manner (without committing a more serious offence)[16]
impeding the progress of an opponent without any contact being made[16]
dissent[16]
offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures[16]
any other verbal offences[16]
after having already been guilty of serious foul play, violent conduct or a second cautionable offence, a player challenges or interferes with an opponent while the referee is playing advantage (unless another more serious offence was committed)[17]
an offence committed outside the field of play by a player against a player, substitute, substituted player or team official of their own team[11]
the player taking a kick-off, free kick, penalty kick, throw-in, goal kick, or corner kick touches the ball a second time before it has been touched by another player (unless the second touch is a handball offence punishable by a direct free kick / penalty kick)[18]
when a free kick is taken, an attacking player is less than 1 m (1 yard) from a "wall" formed by three or more defending players[19]
a penalty kick is kicked backwards[20]
the kicker taking a penalty kick feints once the run-up has been completed[21]
a team-mate of the identified player takes a penalty kick[20]
at a penalty kick, both the kicker and goalkeeper commit an offence at the same time, and the kick is scored (the goal is disallowed, and the indirect free kick is awarded to the defending team)[21]
at a penalty kick, an attacking player encroaches, and the ball does not enter the goal[20]
at a throw-in, an opponent unfairly distracts or impedes the thrower, or is closer than 2 metres to the place where the throw-in is to be taken, and play is stopped after the throw-in has been taken[22]
a player who requires the referee's permission to re-enter the field of play re-enters without the referee's permission, but does not interfere with play, and the referee decides to stop play to deal with the offence[12]
any other offence for which play is stopped to caution or send off a player[16]
Sometimes think an accidental handball should be an indirect freekick, but that might just be because they're entertaining to watch.
posted on 14/8/22
Thanks for the list.
The vast majority of these I don't think I have ever seen penalised. How would you impede an opponent without touching them? I also don't recall any player conceding a free-kick for offensive language despite cameras constantly catching them doing it.
A lot of these would lead to free kicks in your own half, or other normal positions on the pitch if they were ever penalised so could be a direct free kick with no real impact.
The only contentious one would be the indirect free-kick in the box for handling a backpack whoch is brilliant fun but extremely rare.
posted on 14/8/22
comment by welshpoolfan (U7693)
posted 8 minutes ago
Thanks for the list.
The vast majority of these I don't think I have ever seen penalised. How would you impede an opponent without touching them? I also don't recall any player conceding a free-kick for offensive language despite cameras constantly catching them doing it.
A lot of these would lead to free kicks in your own half, or other normal positions on the pitch if they were ever penalised so could be a direct free kick with no real impact.
The only contentious one would be the indirect free-kick in the box for handling a backpack whoch is brilliant fun but extremely rare.
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Dangerous play and obstruction used to be common causes of indirect free-kicks when I was younger.
The same rules for dangerous play still apply, but as far as obstruction's concerned, it's only indirect nowadays if the attacking player runs around the defender and fails to reach the ball. You do see it occasionally, though when it does happen the attacker often dives when he sees he isn't going to make it to the ball and ends up getting himself booked. I don't know whether that's because they don't know the rules properly or because they don't trust the ref to award a foul if no contact is made.