Question Number: 23229

League Specific 5/2/2010

RE: select Under 11

John Carr of mishawaka , IN USA asks...

Placement of kick after a punt from my goalkeeper has landed into the other teams penalty box. Rule 12 says that it can not land in the box, but it may land long outside of it. Where does the foul occcur? and what type of kick does the other team get?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

It seems, coach,that your league has a house rule that a keeper may not throw or kick the ball into the other team's penalty area. We sometimes see such house rules when teams play on very short fields. Since this isn't a foul under the laws of the game, the type of kick and location of the restart should also be stated in the house rule.

If the rule is silent as to restart, the three choices for the referee would be where the ball lands, where the ball was kicked, or the center mark (like a kickoff). Which choice would best serve the purpose of the rule and get the ball quickly back into play? A restart in the landing zone is quick and denies the attacking team any benefit from the kick. A restart in the kicking zone will make teams wary of ever doing this again, but grants the other team a great scoring opportunity . A restart like a kickoff has a little bit of each. IMO, the punishment should fit the crime. I'd choose the quicker restart.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Johm
Clearly this is a competition rule and it is not part of the Laws of the Game. Without the restart being defined I personally would favour where the ball lands as the point of infraction and as it is a technical infringement it should be an IDFK.

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Are you referencing a local rule of play? Law 12 (there are no 'rules' in international soccer, only laws) in the USSF/FIFA book is Fouls and Misconduct, which has nothing to do with the content of your question.

Under the Laws of the Game, a keeper has no restrictions on where his punts can go. The only restriction is he cannot handle the ball outside his own penalty area. If the ball was punted or even place kicked from his own penalty area into the opponent's penalty area, bully for him, and maybe a teammate could capitalize on it and score a goal.

If these are small-sided game rules, which I understand USYSA has implemented for younger ages, there is a modification in Law 12 which provides for an IDFK restart at the center mark if the ball punted by the keeper lands in the opponent's penalty area.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

I've encountered this strange (and totally illegal per LOTG) modification in some areas at the lowest level of play. I have asked coaches,referees, and a referee assignor the reasoning behind this modification of Law 12 and have never received any explanation other than 'it's not fair if one team has a keeper that can kick the ball that far and the other doesn't'. To this I reply 'what?'

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

See Question: 23250