Question Number: 14574

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 12/11/2006

RE: Rec for Adults, up to competitve for youth Adult

Ernest Davis of Houston, Texas USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 14474

This raises several issues in my mind [14474]. Why are we treating a keeper outside his penalty area differently for this? For everything else he is treated as a field player, why not for this?
Also, when are we to consider the ball to be intentionally played to the keeper? If a defender kicks the ball toward the touchline, away from his keeper, and the keeper is the only player with a possibility of making a play on the ball, was it intentionally played to the keeper? If a defender tackles the ball away from an attacker and toward the goal line, clearly playing for a corner kick to allow his defense time to set up, and the keeper races over and dives on the ball preventing the corner kick, was this intentionally played to the keeper?
The particular call I apparently blew went like this: Attacker A attempts a through ball for fellow attacker B. Defender A deflects the ball and it goes toward the touchline. Everyone expects it to go out, but it rolls dead just inside the touchline. The goalkeeper alertly runs out and plays the ball back into his penalty area and picks it up.
What is the correct call?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Earnest,
if you read the segment of applicable law it says only if a teammate deliberately kicks the ball TO the keeper, is he restricted from handling the ball.

As a USSF referee I believe your ATR states TO the keeper or a place where only the keeper could possibly be the recipient of the deliberately kicked ball by his teammate. So there is room to see a pass just into a nearby area by the keeper as an INDFK possibility.

A deflected ball or a miskicked ball that comes to the keeper off the teammate's foot is not deliberately kicked TO him. If a ball is played out and catches some water or tall grass and stops or a defender slides in and pokes the ball free in a challenge causing the ball to go in the direction of the keeper a referee can judge if it was in fact deliberately kicked TO the keeper or a circumstance of play.

The inclusion of the PASSBACK as it is genarically known was to prevent the waste of time not punish a keeper for doing his job of keeping the ball out of his goal!

You ask what is the correct call as a referee you must decide WAS the ball deliberately kicked to the keeper or was the keeper responding to an uncontroled circumstance where the ball was off a teammates foot!. Your match, your decision, your reputation!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Ernest, you're trying to make this too complicated. First, we DON'T treat the keeper differently OUTSIDE his penalty area. No other player is allowed to dribble the ball into the PA and then handle it. Whilst outside the PA, the keeper's the same as anyone else. Admittedley, some of the decision is going to be "in the opinion of the referee", but what isn't? USSF in recent recerts have tried to drill into us NOT to call deliberately kicking the ball to the keeper unless we're certain that's what's going on. I don't think the call you made was incorrect. Deflections or miskicks should not count as "deliberate kicks". Remember why the rule was instituted; to stop time-wasting. It wasn't put into effect to punish keepers from running down balls that may be going out of bounds.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

The reason a keeper may not handle the ball deliberately kicked to him or directly from a throw-in from his own side is because professional teams found this to be a superior time wasting tactic that the referee had no power to add time for.

The International FA Board wrote a change to the Laws of the Game forbidding the keeper to use his hands in these instances. The keeper was still able to stand motionless with the ball in his hands and waste time if he got the ball from the normal run of play and teams still wasted time so long as he didn't take four steps. The International FA Board stopped this when they limited the keeper to six seconds of possession. These changes to the Laws of the Game have done as intended, the Game has sped up and there is little time wasted any more.

Regards,