Restores the balance - When a referee awards a direct free kick, it restores the balance that was lost due to the illegal actions of the team that committed the act.  You are making the playing field level again.

Balance the skills - Quoting from Eric Sellin's The Inner Game of Soccer, "As with other laws, Law 12 is designed to permit the player to demonstrate his soccer skills for his won pleasure and that of his teammates and fans.  It is especially law 12, which, if correctly enforced, prevents brute strength from prevailing over ability, might from becoming right."

Sellin continues by saying, "Inevitably a player who substitutes strength for ability will commit fouls and run the risk of disqualification.  That is a good thing, and referees must see to it that a player with ability is not made the subject of pre-emptive physical action on the part of less-skilled players.  If law 12 had been more strictly enforced in the 1962 and 1966 World Cup games, Pele would not have been brutalized as he was and forced to sit out some games to the regret of the many fans who loved to see him play.  The laws are so constructed that a 5'2" player can compete with a six-footer on equal terms, that is on the basis of his skills.

Direct free kick - referee observes foul

Direct free kick near goal

 Action on the field:

Number 6 plays the ball forward into space.  Number 7 begins a run toward the ball and Number 10, sensing Number 7 will win the ball, holds Number 7.

Trail Referee Responsibilities

Stop the game with a whistle.  If you sense it is needed, move to the spot of the foul to prevent retaliation.  Ensure the ball is properly placed.  Allow the quick free kick unless the defensive team prevents it by failing to respect the required distance.  Deal with the interference.

Lead Referee Responsibilities

Move laterally to stay even with the second-to-last defender. 

 Action on the field:

The attacking Kickers (U14) team is awarded a direct free kick within 20-25 yards of the goal. They request your help to set up a ceremonial free kick and want the defense moved at least 10 yards from the ball.  It is a serious threat on goal and the referee team have a number of duties to attend to: offside, goal/no-goal decision and physical play as opponents line up near each other. 

Lead Referee Responsibilities

The lead referee must concentrate on the goal/no-goal decision and on offside.  The referee should come into the field as far as they are comfortable even with the second-to-last defender.  If the kick goes over the wall and towards the goal, the referee must be prepared to quickly move to the goal line to judge whether or not the entire ball crossed the goal line for a goal.

Trail Referee Responsibilities

This is a situation where the trail referee must come forward into the lead referee's half of the field.  It is the trail referee's responsibility to make sure that the ball is placed at the point of the infraction, that the wall is positioned at the required distance, that the wall does not encroach prior to the kick and that there is no misconduct in the wall.  In the above scenario, the referee must be aware that there are two white offensive players in the wall.  This may result in some pushing and shoving by the defenders.  Make sure that it does not get out of hand.  Additionally, there are two different white attackers standing over the ball.  This usually means that the team has a practiced "trick" play where they vary if the first player approaching the ball either takes the kick or feints the kick and steps over the ball leaving it for the second kicker.  This situation can entice the defenders in the wall to encroach, be aware of this possibility.

The I-formation

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Respecting the required distance

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 Some referees refer to what you see in picture B as flat or straight-lined, so if your view of half a dozen players consists of a side view of one shoulder, you are not in the proper position.

There could be untold mayhem going on in the wall.  Literally, everyone in the stands and technical area will see elbows into ribs, tugging shorts and shirts and larger players trying strong-arm tactics on smaller opponents.  Everyone but you - the most important person to view those offenses.

Move just far enough off that direct line to open an angle - to be able to see through the players, to see their hands.  While some referees like to go behind the players, there are benefits to remaining in front of them.  When a hard shot goes directly into the wall, you want to see the defender's hands. If the ball strikes a stationary arm, you'll allow play to continue.  However, if a defender deliberately handles the ball or purposefully redirects that shot by overt arm movement, the player committed an offense - one you will only see if you are in to a location that allows you an angled look at the behavior.

Increasingly, attackers are committing misconduct in wall situations.  Referees must become more aware of such misconduct and position themselves to prevent such actions.

As you progress into higher age groups, teams want the opportunity to take the quick free kick.  If you are in the initial stages of upgrading  to higher levels, be more patient than you have been in the past.  Wait for the kicking team to invite you in to deal with the defenders.

While referees maintain discretionary powers to caution defenders in a wall situation, some are almost automatic.  Caution the player who picks the ball up to prevent a play, the defender who runs 40 yards and squats dozen three yards in front of the ball to tie a shoe and the defender who stands a yard or two behind the ball (between the ball and attackers) to direct the wall placement.  They politely ask you, via their actions, for a card, so do not let them down.

Here, Number 8 and 11 see no obvious opening on goal, so they ask your help to restore the chance of scoring via a free kick.  If defenders already meet that minimum distance, inform the attackers to put the ball in play.  If defenders are within that distance, ask the attackers to withhold taking the kick, reposition the defenders to the proper distance and give the signal to proceed, usually a whistle.  If a defender you have placed at the minimum distance from the ball moves within that distance before the ball comes into play, stop the restart to deal with the offender via a card.  Re-take the restart.

A few hints to help you with walls:  Once the ball is on the ground, do not lose sight of it.  Attackers may feel free to move the ball forward two or three yards and continue to ask for 10 yards.  Use field markings to help you judge 10 yards.  Use every tool at your disposal: penalty arc, goal area, center circle and penalty mark. .

Do not pace off the 10 yards.  Partially because it forces you to take your eye off the ball, it is not recommended.  It also invites an attacker who feels the distance is short to pace off the steps behind you.  One possibility to deter that player from following you is to not let the player get more than six steps before you display a yellow card.

Unnatural arm motions

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Players in a wall are there to defend against goals.  Staring down the barrel of a direct free kick from 10 yards away brings fear to many.  Both male and female players will station their arms to protect vulnerable body parts.  That pre-positioning is unlikely to produce an infraction.

If we define deliberate contact as "the player could have avoided the touch but chose not to, that the player's arms were not in a normal playing position at the time or that the player deliberately continued an initially accidental contact for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage."

If Number 5 or 9 is struck in the arms by that direct free kick, it should not be whistled.  However, if Number 6 were struck anywhere along the hands or arms, it would be the offense of deliberately handling the ball because the arms are not in a normal playing position.  Number 7 and 11 form the middle ground - parts of their arms are in a normal playing position, but their forearms are thrust to the side to make their bodies wider.

Preventive officiating.  Take care of small problems when they are small so you do not have to deal with bigger problems.  Use your voice.  Use your personality.  Use your whistle.  Convey your unhappiness with a player's action but do it in a way that doesn't inflame the situation.  The referee could easily be having a quiet word with any one of the five players pictured and it would lower the emotional temperature.  The referee can do that because he put in the extra effort to run to the spot of the foul.

Use your personality.  Almost 20 years ago, now-FIFA referee Brian Hall was refereeing an ethnic game in San Francisco.  After a hard physical challenge, the two opponents squared off to face on another with Hall running toward them.  As they glowered at each other from six inches away, Hall calmly said four or five words to them and they both doubled up with laughter.  If humor is in your repertoire, use it.

Be very attentive when opponents help a fallen player from the ground.  While, in many cases, it is a gesture of good sportsmanship, there are hazards.  Be certain that Number 10 is ready to get up.  Some players truly need a second or two to collect their thoughts after a hard physical challenge and you do not want an opponent to drag them up, as if to say, "Come on.  Get up.  You're not hurt."  Some cynical players have been known to offer a hand up and then just about the time Number 10 regains his balance, Number 4 lets go and Number 10 tumbles to the ground again.  That usually circles the wagons - which is not a good thing.  If Number 3 and 4 genuinely assist Number 10 to his feet and offer a kind word, it's OK for you to verbally praise that act of sporting behavior.

Restarts - running to the spot of the foul

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