"unnecessary delay" - free kick = yellow card

[Boomer]

In the Lusher-NCS game, twice I saw a free kick granted and a player from the opposing team plant himself right in front of the ball and then do a little foot blocking dance to prevent the ball being played quickly.  One time the ball was actually nudged by the opposing player. 

Under most interpretations, this is a yellow card, no ifs ands or buts.  A player who plants himself and then makes no attempt to interfere with play may be OK if moving away, and if interfering will be moved back after the CR signals a ceremonial restart.  But the deliberate interference, dance in front or nudge the ball, is penelized under NFHS MISCONDUCT, Art 1, "f", (2)... yellow card. The second offense mention, deliberately kicking or nudging the ball away, was even more worthy of action.   

In the game, neither of the offenses were carded or apparently warned.   

[Steven Gerrard]

Pet peeve of mine. Should be a yellow card.

[pinetar]

this is one of my biggest pet peeves as a referee. you always have the players who jump in fron of the ball and then try to argue with you that the player taking the kick has to ask for 10 yards. there is no requirement to ask for 10 yards. it is supposed to be automatic. that being said, if the defensive player is standing right by the restart position when the ball is placed, I will usually just motion him away while talking to him. if he comes running from 20 yards away and jumps in front of the ball, you have to consider whether to caution which brings into account all other factors (age, tenor of the game, position of the kick, whether the attacker was attempting to play the ball at the time of the infraction, etc.)

i didn't see the game last night, so i don't know whether a card was warranted. generally, if i am on the whistle, the first time is a warning loud enough for everyone to hear. after that, failure to give the ten yards or a reasonable approximation will bring a caution.

[Boomer]

Card was warrented in both situations, and I was entirely neutral observer, just interested in the technique of the game. The second time, the defensive player not only ran up, danced, but also nudged the ball. It took the sting out of the attack that was underway when the foul was committed...

Which is why I posted this, for the benefit of all the players that don't know the rules, and to encourage the refs to enforce the rules. One card, or even a stern explanation...

[time2retire]

Distance is a right, not a privilege. I may be lenient on the first instance but the second wouldn't be so lucky.

[laffysoccermom]

It seems like in club soccer, many refs don't enforce distance unless asked by player.

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