Question Number: 22347

Law 5 - The Referee 10/25/2009

RE: Under 18

Steven of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

Can you play advantage on a deliberate handling the ball ?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

You can apply advantage to any foul.

So yes, you can apply advantage if a player deliberately handles the ball and the opposing team gains an advantage.

However, this is not to be confused with a case of accidental handling (such as seen in second goal of the Newcastle Jets v Central Coast Mariners A-league match on Friday night). If a player accidentally handles the ball then it does not matter if his own team benefits; no free kick is to be given.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Yes advantage as described in law 5 can be applied to the DFK foul of handles the ball deliberately! Here we ALLOW play to continue so the team that tried to cheat by the deliberate foul does not successfully stop the play perhaps preventing a goal or attacking option. IF the referee does not see an appropriate advantage to mitigate the foul then he calls the foul, awards the free kick (DFK or PK) and cautions or sends off as the situation dictates


This is a VAST difference from an advantageous bounce or redirect from a ball that strikes the arm of a player and falls to him or a team mate in a fortunate position. The fact a team benefits from a ball striking the arm of one of their own team mates is a bit of luck. This is no different then if the ball rebounded of any other body part. The fact such an incident is not considered deliberate then there is no foul, play simply continues!

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Yup. Advantage may be given for any violation of Law 12 anywhere in the world. Deliberately handling the ball is a direct free kick foul found in Law 12.
Often, a defender will stick his hand out to prevent the ball from going into the goal for a score. This is an instance where the referee must hold his whistle for a few seconds to see what happens. Many times the attempt by the defender is unsuccessful and the ball winds up in the net anyway. Had the referee blown his whistle quickly, he would have taken a goal away and restarted with a penalty kick and probably sent off the defender for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity by deliberately handling the bsll