mali said:
i copied a post from another site i use tu go :
I am a qualified referee, so I know what I am talking about
Once the referee blows for the infringement, the team awarded the free kick can AT ANY TIME take the free kick.
As John Giles said this morning on Dunphy's show, if a free kick is given in the middle of the park, players usually just bend down, stop the ball, and get on with it.
Why should the referee let the offending team have any advantage, he is penalising them.
No matter if it was a free kick or not, what happens after it is awarded is quite clear in the rules.
Except in the game the whistle is blown to stop a freekick being taken from Chelsea's side at least once that I recall.
Referee's will also blow the whistle and hold up play for a substitute which disallows such an option.
And you also see teams give the ball back to the opposition after play was stopped for whatever reason, there is no rule for that yet you would be a cheat if you took advantage of it to score.
Then award a god damned penalty, even then Cech would have had a better chance to stop it. First of all it was not a foul, Pires dived. Second, this rule and piss-poor excuse is completely contradicted as ref's will OFTEN stop a free kick being played early as well as hold up play for substitutions. It has no logical basis. Chelsea players were instructed at the start of the season by a representative in how things operate, did anyone there have the slightest clue what was going to happen besides Poll, Henry and Gudjohnson? Eidur only knew because he heard it.
Again, many things are stated in the rules. A yellow card is given for pulling off the shirt and a potential early-career ending tackle... but instead of relying on the rule itself they should find the logic. This is in the REAL rules of life, circular logic, a fallacy. And look at what it would promote, now every player has to stand right in front of the ball everytime because it may not be taken with the wall. And if that happens... guess what... Ref's give cards to people. So if this referee would care to explain why he is such a hypocrite then maybe I could understand the logic behind it.
I consider Henry a cheat as I would someone taking advantage of the ball being thrown back to him to score. Although I look less fondly on Pires diving for the free kick. I still think they are both great players though.