Removing the annoyance of encroachment

There are few things more annoying in football than encroachment at free kicks. I'm not just talking about free kicks near goal where we have inevitable delays in forming the wall. That is bad enough but almost every free kick is subject to some enforced delay by members of the offending team deliberately standing over the ball or encroaching within the ten yards. 

I say deliberately because there is no doubt that the tactic is taught and encouraged by club coaches. Watch any professional game and you will witness a player who has obviously been detailed by his manager to get into a position to slow down the action. Spectators find it annoying but managers don't worry about that. 

I find it irritating as a referee because, as it goes largely unchecked, it is copied at local and junior football level. Players seem to think that I am being highly officious when I insist on them retreating quickly at free kicks. They don't seem to realise that it is an offence and a cautionable offence at that. The law quite clearly says that 'a player will be cautioned and shown the yellow card if he fails to respect
the required distance when play is restarted with a free kick or corner'.

So why is it not punished more often? Two reasons I think. Firstly, it is not always necessary. The player may not have affected the kick being taken, particularly a quick free quick and it would then seem niggly to bring out the yellow card. Secondly, it is a fairly minor technical offence. No referee wants to fill his book with names for technical offences. Usually you will only see a referee pull his book from his pocket if the offending player actually intercepts the ball from the free kick.

This problem is not confined to English football. Watch any international match and you will see it happen. I was disappointed that, at the World Cup, referees didn't take a stronger line right at the beginning. With such a vast audience it could have sent a message to the rest of football. The eventual World Champions, Brazil, were as bad if not worse than other nations. 

I therefore find it intriguing that Brazilian referees are reported to have come up with a novel idea to end this problem. They now carry a small can of white spray. When a free kick is awarded, they simply step out the ten paces and spray a short white line. The defending players are then told to stay behind the line and the referee
is clearly able to determine if any player creeps forward.

I'm not sure what the International FA Board think about this idea as they have always been opposed to any markings on the field of play other than those outlined in the Laws. Not to mention groundsmen who will find a series of little white lines lo obliterate before the next game. I find it hard lo believe the claim that this action speeds up the game. 

There is a way, however, to speed up the game and eliminate this annoying problem, which is clear to me and many other
referees but which is seemingly opposed by FIFA.

For some while now there has been an experiment in the Premiership, Nationwide and some other leagues where, in cases of encroachment or dissent, at free kicks the ball can be moved ten yards forward. But this can only happen if the referee first cautions the offending player. 

This, as I have already mentioned, doesn't happen very often. What we need as referees, is the authority to forget about a caution and just be able to move the kick forward. Managers and their team mates will soon be shouting at offending players to move away. They'll be the ones getting annoyed if the kicks get nearer to their own goal.

Dick Sawdon Smith

 

© R Sawdon Smith 2003

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