Drawing the line on free kicks

[kinboshi]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7776602.stm

The Argentine Football Association is to introduce an aerosol spray to stop defenders creeping closer to the ball during a free-kick.

From next year, referees will use the spray in first division matches.

Referees will mark a temporary white line 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball, which defenders cannot cross. The spray will disappear 30 seconds later.

A good idea, surely?  I'd welcome it into the English league.  Can't really see any reasons not to have it...

[AndrewT]

Can't really see any reasons not to have it...

It's not needed. As it is, the referee can pace out the distance, line the wall up and book anyone who moves forward.

The problem is weak referees, not the fact there's no line on the pitch.

[kinboshi]

Can't really see any reasons not to have it...

It's not needed. As it is, the referee can pace out the distance, line the wall up and book anyone who moves forward.

The problem is weak referees, not the fact there's no line on the pitch.

Well, we have weak referees.  So it is needed.

[gatso]

can see this killing the quick free kick

[Rod Paradise]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7776602.stm

The Argentine Football Association is to introduce an aerosol spray to stop defenders creeping closer to the ball during a free-kick.

From next year, referees will use the spray in first division matches.

Referees will mark a temporary white line 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball, which defenders cannot cross. The spray will disappear 30 seconds later.

A good idea, surely?  I'd welcome it into the English league.  Can't really see any reasons not to have it...

They've been doing this in some South American leagues for a while. Spray a spot where the kick is to be taken from pace the 10, spray a line, job done. It'd save that bloody annoying slow mini paces back from the wall, and the free kick taker moving the ball forward when the ref is moving the wall.

[kinboshi]

can see this killing the quick free kick

Quick free kick and the ref doesn't mark out the 10 yards - the same way as it works now.

[kinboshi]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7776602.stm

The Argentine Football Association is to introduce an aerosol spray to stop defenders creeping closer to the ball during a free-kick.

From next year, referees will use the spray in first division matches.

Referees will mark a temporary white line 9.15 metres (10 yards) from the ball, which defenders cannot cross. The spray will disappear 30 seconds later.

A good idea, surely?  I'd welcome it into the English league.  Can't really see any reasons not to have it...

They've been doing this in some South American leagues for a while. Spray a spot where the kick is to be taken from pace the 10, spray a line, job done. It'd save that bloody annoying slow mini paces back from the wall, and the free kick taker moving the ball forward when the ref is moving the wall.

Exactly.  It also allows the ref to concentrate on other matters other than trying to remember exactly where the wall and ball were positioned, and instead they can focus on what other players are doing to each other in the area, etc.

[thetank]

7 refs with coloured hankerchiefs ftw

[Colchester Kev]

so the ref carries a fkin aerosol can in his pocket all game ?  or does he have to go to the touchline every time there is a free kick to fetch one .... stupid idea !

[booder]

jumpers for goalposts imo

[kinboshi]

so the ref carries a fkin aerosol can in his pocket all game ?  or does he have to go to the touchline every time there is a free kick to fetch one .... stupid idea !

Small can on a belt, like the police who carry mace.  Or he could put it down his socks, or down the front of his shorts.

[kinboshi]

Added a (Graham) poll.

[lazaroonie]

only one winner for this poll. kudos to Dewi for starting it.

[kinboshi]

More here (I think Dewi wrote this):

Argentina will use a vanishing spray in first division games next year in an attempt to stop defensive walls from creeping forward at free kicks.

The spray has been used on an experimental basis in the second division for the last six months and the Argentina Football Association (AFA) has now approved its use in the top flight, officials said on Wednesday.

Referees pace the regulatory 10-yards between the ball and the nearest defender and then spray a white line on the pitch to mark the correct position of the wall.

The line then disappears from the pitch within a minute.

Referees carry the spray in a small aerosol can weighing 115 grams.

Pablo Silva, a sports journalist who invented the spray and has worked with chemical engineers to develop the product, said the idea came to him when he was foiled at a free kick during an amateur game several years ago.

"In the 88th minute, we were losing 1-0 and won a free kick on the edge of the area. When I took the kick, the wall was three metres away," he said earlier this year.

"The referee didn't book anyone and didn't do anything.

"We lost the game and, driving home later with a mixture of anger and bitterness, I thought that we must invent something to stop this."

A spray has been used in some competitions in Brazil in the last few years for the same purpose. Silva said the products were different and had been developed separately.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=601022&sec=global&&cc=5739

[technolog]

so the ref carries a fkin aerosol can in his pocket all game ?  or does he have to go to the touchline every time there is a free kick to fetch one .... stupid idea !

Small can on a belt, like the police who carry mace.  Or he could put it down his socks, or down the front of his shorts.

Mace the cheating feckers imo.