Question Number: 12775

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/11/2006

RE: Grade 8 Adult

Ralph Anderson of Shelton, WA Mason asks...

A coach/adult league player, kneed the ball back to their keeper which the keeper caught with their hands -- clearly intentional. He indicated that their high school team has been doing this for some time without a "direct kick back to the keeper" infringement being called. Is this against the LOTG? Is this trickery to circumvent the LOTG?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

This is perfectly legal. In order for the keeper not to be allowed to handle the ball, it has to be deliberately kicked, with the foot, to him by a teammate or to an area where he can collect the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Nice play, hopefully the referee was as appreciative of the skill involved and didn't pull you up for a deliberate kick to the keeper.

Some still do this, no matter how often we tell them a kick is with the foot not the thigh.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

The only way this could be trickery is if the teammate flipped the ball up to his knee using his foot, then passed it off his knee to the goal keeper. Play would then be stopped, the player doing this juggling act would be cautioned for unsporting behavior and shown the yellow card (or also sent off and shown the red card if it his second caution during the same match), regardless of whether or not the goal keeper touches the ball with his hands. Restart of play would then be an IFK to the opposing team where the infringment occurred (which in this case is where the player did his "tricky" move). Your description of the incident does not give this detail, so we are left to assume that the ball got to the knee of the teammate through some "normal" or "natural" course of the game. And the long way around an answer: Good play. Can do it. :)

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

This is "ok". The laws say that the ball must be directly kicked to the keeper with the foot. It would only be trickery if he would have flipped it to his knee with his foot. As Always,