Referees Section (All Queries on Rulings Welcomed) No Smart Arses/Tyre Kickers

[Sligoman2015]

Hi just want ask about a decision a referee made in a recent schools game I was at. One team was awarded a free around the half way line, The player taking the free went to play it short but the referee deemed it to not have gone 13m. The ref then proceeded to award a free the other way(for the ball not going 13m but the player who took the free argued that it should have been a hot ball/retake. Just wondering what the correct decision was.

[Main Street]

Hi just want ask about a decision a referee made in a recent schools game I was at. One team was awarded a free around the half way line, The player taking the free went to play it short but the referee deemed it to not have gone 13m. The ref then proceeded to award a free the other way(for the ball not going 13m but the player who took the free argued that it should have been a hot ball/retake. Just wondering what the correct decision was.

There isn't a rule that the ball has to travel 13m from a free kick before it can be played. All players have to be at least 13m away from the ball when it is struck.  In theory, the ball call travel just 6m from the free kick position and it's not a foul as long as fellow team mates are >13m away from the ball when it's struck.
The ref got it wrong but might have been right at the same time, . The  penalty for being less than 13m away is a free kick awarded to the other side. To add in a bit of absurdity,  if the free taker (hot on his heels) gets to where the ball landed before anybody else and gives it a second whack,  then he can take the free kick again.

Is there any clarification on why Carlow IT had just 14 players in ET?

[manfromdelmonte]

Hi just want ask about a decision a referee made in a recent schools game I was at. One team was awarded a free around the half way line, The player taking the free went to play it short but the referee deemed it to not have gone 13m. The ref then proceeded to award a free the other way(for the ball not going 13m but the player who took the free argued that it should have been a hot ball/retake. Just wondering what the correct decision was.

There isn't a rule that the ball has to travel 13m from a free kick before it can be played. All players have to be at least 13m away from the ball when it is struck.  In theory, the ball call travel just 6m from the free kick position and it's not a foul as long as fellow team mates are >13m away from the ball when it's struck.
The ref got it wrong but might have been right at the same time, . The  penalty for being less than 13m away is a free kick awarded to the other side. To add in a bit of absurdity,  if the free taker (hot on his heels) gets to where the ball landed before anybody else and gives it a second whack,  then he can take the free kick again.

Correct!
Ball doesn't have to travel 13m
Smart teams have figured this out and have shortened the length of their kickouts, sidelines and frees from the hand