I'm so tired of this "it's free-style, so you are free to do what you want" argument, because it's just wrong. Of course, you can do what you want, but that doesn't mean you can call yourself a freestyle footballer. There is a borderline what can be considered freestyle football and what not. People certainly have different opinions about where to set this borderline.
I mean if someone is holding a football in his hands and is eating a banana while only touching the banana with the football, he is basically doing a trick involving a football; but we hopefully can agree that this does not count as freestyle football.
For me, freestyle football is about doing tricks with a football, where the ball is in the center of action. For example, doing a backflip with the ball caught between the knees does not count as freestyle football; but kicking the ball up, doing a backflip and catching the ball in midair does count as freestyle football. In other words, the football needs a purpose in a trick.