HS Ruling on first touching of free kick on sideline ...

[Rick KY]

Middleman, your sarcasm is noted, but not appreciated. Of course I can read and quote anything written in any of the NF books. And if you read the case play you suggest you will see it is not the same play. Rather it is about a muffed kick which K attempts to recover. Similar indeed, but not the same. However there is one thing you overlooked in your comments. It is a foul on K if R does not touch the kick before it goes OOB. Nowhere have I ever read of the plane of the sideline having any significance in any ruling. To be OOB a player must touch OOB, or the ball must touch OOB. If the R player is already OOB when he touches the kick, he could not have touched it before it went OOB. Therefore I submit my original position that if R catches the kick with one foot OOB it is a free kick infraction on K.