Question Number: 21548

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/15/2009

RE: Select Under 14

Reza Taheri of San Jose, Ca United States asks...

A defender on my team passed the ball back to our sweeper. The pass was wide of the sweeper and too hard, but it was clear it was meant for our sweeper. My sweeper ran to the ball, decided it as too difficult to control, and let it roll to our keeper. The sweeper shepherded the ball back to the keeper (but never touched it). Our keeper decided to pick the ball up. Was this an illegal back pass?

Thanks,
Reza

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Two of the three elements are present for the indirect free kick foul for a keeper to handle a ball deliberately kicked by a teammate . The ball was kicked by a defender. The ball went to a place where the keeper could handle it. The critical third element is that the kick was deliberate. Did the ball appear to go to where the kicker intended or did it appear to be miskicked?

The foul doesn't require that there be a 'pass,' that it goes 'back' or that it go 'to the keeper.'

But it does require that the ball be kicked to the place where the kicker intended it to go. That the pass was kicked wide and too hard to go to the intended recipient suggests that the player miskicked the ball. Any infringement in this situation seems doubtful. (If the ball instead appeared to go exactly where the kicker intended ( not a miskick), but the sweeper decided to dummy the ball and let it roll to the keeper, the keeper could not handle the ball.)

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

This is going to be called differently among referees so you better get used to it. Many referees wrongly believe that the ball has to be 'kicked to the keeper'. In the wording of the infraction, 'deliberately' modifies 'kicked' not 'to the keeper'. So some referees aren't going to call this ever unless they are certain the ball was intended to go 'to the keeper'. Other referees, understanding that kicked modifies deliberately will call this everytime the ball is kicked and for whatever reason the keeper ends up handling the ball.

The thing to understand is what is meant by 'deliberate'. Referee Wickham sums it up nicely. If the ball didn't go where the kicker intended it to, it was probably miskicked. What you describe, to me, is a miskick.

Finally, referees in the US are reminded in Advice To Referees On The Laws Of The Game that the infraction was put into the Laws to cut down on legal time wasting and players should not be punished if playing within the Spirit of the Law

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Just to be contrary as I am a Canuck I will tweak the situation slightly. The purpose of the laws is to provide for exciting FAIR play. Now although the MAIN purpose was to elimimnate using up play time attackers can now CHASE down balls that previously they would not because the keeper COULD use the hands making it a waste of time . In your senario if there was a nearby pursuing attacker who created this reluctance by pressuring the ball and the sweeper decides to shield the ball I have difficulty on the spirit of the laws here that it justifies the keeper using the hands to snuff the pressure given the ball was deliberately kicked .
Just a thought!
Cheers

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 21553

See Question: 21554