Refereeing a game yesterday, U15 player is on the ground and kicks the ball away from opposing team. Everyone screaming "can't play the ball from the ground"...didn't call anything as nothing he did was worthy of stopping play, was not dangerous, didn't foul anyone so I let play continue.
I thought later was what he did really in infraction of the rules. So I looked. It's not. No where in the FIFA laws does it say a player cannot play the ball while on the ground. I looked at our league's rules (which are FIFA laws with some modifications for subs, field size, team sizes, etc.) and no where in those rules does it say a player cannot play the ball while on the ground.
So where did this whole "can't play the ball from the ground" thing start?
EDIT: I did have it in my head that youth players cannot play the ball from the ground as it can be dangerous, but in this situation U15 is old enough that it was not a factor here.
I thought later was what he did really in infraction of the rules. So I looked. It's not. No where in the FIFA laws does it say a player cannot play the ball while on the ground. I looked at our league's rules (which are FIFA laws with some modifications for subs, field size, team sizes, etc.) and no where in those rules does it say a player cannot play the ball while on the ground.
So where did this whole "can't play the ball from the ground" thing start?
EDIT: I did have it in my head that youth players cannot play the ball from the ground as it can be dangerous, but in this situation U15 is old enough that it was not a factor here.