Question Number: 15252

Mechanics 4/23/2007

RE: Rec Under 15

Al Ferdinand of San Francisco, CA USA asks...

Greetings, everyone -

I was AR-ing a game this past weekend. The following sequence baffled me, and it turned out the Ref as well. Attack forward passes from inside the box to long side of the goal, other forward and keeper race to the ball and arrive almost simultaneously, about 2 yards from the post and the goalline. There's minor contact and the keeper scoops up the ball and her momentum carries her over the end line. I look to him and point to the corner, as she's run over the line, but he shakes me off. So, I figure he's called some sort of minor foul and given her a goal kick. I ask him after the game and he says he thought the ball rolled out and she picked it up. It didn't affect the score, so I'm asking more out of retrospect, since it's bound to happen again: if the forward's momentum moves the goalie enough to inch her out of bounds, is that treated essentially as a force-out in hoop, and a goal kick is the right remedy? Or, is it a corner kick? If there's no contact, it's a corner, correct? Many thanks! Ferd.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the contact is unfair, we have a foul against the keeper, and she gets a free kick coming out.

If the contact was fair, then the fact that the ball last crossed the goal line after being touched by a defender means we have a corner kick.

Note that contact with the keeper while she already has the ball in her possession is almost certainly illegal. In your telling of the incident, you state that the contact occurred before the keeper scooped up the ball - thus the referee has to decide whether the contact was fair or foul.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

No goal kick regardless. If the keeper was pushed over the goal line with the ball, it's a DFK for the keeper's team at the point of the foul. If she carried the ball over the goal line by herself, it's a corner.