Ask a Ref Q&A

Q: In the Nottingham Forest vs Manchester United match, today, one of the home players passed a ball directly back to his keeper. The keeper tried to clear the ball , but miss kicked it, pretty much straight up into the air. Under pressure from an opposition forward, he then caught the ball, playing up field from his hands. I'm fairly sure no other player touched the ball after the pass back.
Surely, this should have resulted in an indirect free kick to the attacking team. A keeper can't just kick the ball, from a deliberate pass back, then pick it up and play it, can he?

 

A: Within the last couple of seasons there was a law change to benefit goalkeepers here. Now, when a defender deliberately kicks the ball to the goalkeeper and the GK tries to kick the ball back upfield but mucks up the kick, they are allowed to handle the ball. 

The reasoning is that the backpass law is there to prevent the GK from just being able to run down the clock with the ball in their hands, and IFAB have decided that if the GK has at least made an honest attempt to get rid of the ball, then they shouldn't suffer if that attempt didn't succeed.

Q: Hello, offside question here. If a player kicks the ball from an onside position and it bounces off a defending player and at the moment it bounced off the defender the attacking player was in a offside position and he receives the ball (should be offside for interfering with play). Would this be offside? In this case would the position of the attacking player be taken from the moment he played the ball, or the moment it bounced off the defender. Just to clarify, it bounced off the defender, he didn't play it.

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A: The answer is that the position of the player receiving the ball in an offside position is taken in determining offside at the moment the ball is played by a team mate. 
That means that if the player was in an onside position at that moment the ball was played / touched by a team mate then there cannot be an offside even if the ball is received in an offside position. 

It is a regular occurrence in the game. The ball can be played through with an attacking team mate running from an onside position to play the ball in an offside position. That as you know is not offside.

In respect of the ball touching an opponent in these possible offside plays it is only a reset of offside if the ball is deliberately PLAYED by a defender. A rebound does not reset offside should it be present.

In your example it was a rebound so no reset is possible. The decision rest on the position of the attacker at the moment the ball was played by a team mate. If that receiver was in an offside position when the ball was played by a team mate then it is offside. If the player was in an onside position when the ball was played then it cannot be offside and the touch by the opponent makes no difference.

Q: Do you get a yellow yard right away if the team doesn’t ask for 10 yards and i was a couple yards away from the free kick

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A: First of all there is no requirement for a team to request 10 yards. It is a free kick and opponents should retreat away from the ball the required distance, period. 

Now we know that does not happen all the time and some players decide to loiter around the ball or for that matter run to get in front of the ball. 
Most times a referee will enforce the distance by requesting players to move away or in attacking situations to pace out the required distance for any defensive wall. 

Some referees take exception to the non retreat of players usually in the first instance with an admonishment to move away. When players pay no heed to that instruction or repeat the failing to retreat the required distance it will result in a caution.

Some players can be unlucky when it might be their first instance of being in front of the ball and they get sanctioned with a card immediately. Players should pay heed to instructions from referees in these situations to other players. Other players make movements to prevent the kick so those players can expect a card.

So the answer to your question is that if the player is not within the 10 yards or retreating promptly the referee is not asked the question and there is no need for a card. The non request to enforce the 10 yards distance is not a requirement for a card to issue.