Question Number: 23928

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/14/2010

RE: Rec Adult

Nathan Redshaw of Bristol, England asks...

A friend of mine was at a referee promotion seminar yesterday, and was given this situation.

Basically if a striker rounded the keeper but got taken out but the ball went to another attacking player who had an open goal but missed, we were told that you had to bring it back for the penalty and send the keeper off. So I argued that you shouldn't bring it back for a penalty because a) the keeper hasn't denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity and b) it's not your fault that the player missed an open goal. But they were having none of it!

So he was essentially told that if the goal was missed by the attacking player, it's a red card for the keeper and a penalty, but if the goal had been scored, it would stand with no action taken against the keeper. Surely though, the keeper has not denied a goal scoring opportunity by taking out the first player, so whether the player scores or misses the open goal is irrelevant?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Nathan
The Laws of the Game allow for the referee to play advantage when a foul has been committed which allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage.
If the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time usually 2/3 seconds then the referee penalises the original offence.
In this scenario the referee has to decide if the advantage had in fact been realised. That is the key question for the referee because if he believes that it did then the restart is a goal kick. The referee could still take action against the goalkeeper for the manner of the challenge.
However if the referee believes that advantage has not been realised he will come back to the original offence which is a penalty and then takes disciplinary action against the goalkeeper which more than likely is a dismissal for denying an obvious goal scoring opportunity assuming that all the conditions for a DOGSO has been met in the original foul.
If the referee applies advantage during an obvious goalscoring opportunity and a goal is scored directly, despite the goalkeeper fouling an opponent, the GK cannot be sent off but he may still be cautioned. So the no action advice is incorrect.
So we have the theory yet these situations are always fraught with difficulty, each situation is different and the theory can be difficult to implement. It is never advisable to play advantage on a sending off offence and certainly not on violent conduct or serious foul play. However it is also not a good idea to call the DOGSO foul immediately when a goal can be scored instantly. Terje Hauge the referee in CL final between Arsenal and Bracelone regrets not allowing advantage to allow Barca the chance to score instead of calling the free kick and then having to send off Lehmann for a DOGSO when a caution would have sufficed.

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

See Question: 23968