First touching/ IW

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

No, I don't think so.

With the penalty, everything that happens afterward ends up being disregarded anyway. (If the penalty is declined, you're back to replaying due to the IW)

With first touching, you have no idea whether the "zero yard penalty" will be accepted.

I suppose a "fair" way of navigating this would be to let the receiving team decide if they want to accept the first touching, or replay the down. I can see both sides of this.

Sometimes the choice would be obvious. If K first touches their free kick in the neutral zone, what is to be gained by R in replaying the down, assuming rational decisions by both sides?

OK, I suppose if K's kicker is really, really weak and has trouble getting the ball to go any distance at all, R might decline a spot of touching by K 9 yards into the NZ in the hope that his next kick won't even go that far.