Question Number: 24663

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 3/7/2011

Jeff Goldstein of Monticello, NY USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 24618

Joe,
I'm sure this is just trifling but why would the 'keeper commit a foul in the penalty area to keep the ball out of the goal? Since you can't score directly off a throw in wouldn't you rather let the ball into the goal and restart with a corner than an IDFK in the box?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jeff
It is not up to the referee to make decision based on what should have happened. Clearly the best choice for the goalkeeper should be to allow the ball to enter the goal on the throw in and the restart is a corner kick. Yet he has chosen otherwise which the referee must respond to with a decision?
How about this goal?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18QsjFUquD8
Had the GK left the ball the restart would have been a corner not a goal. Had he used his hand it would also have been a goal. If he managed to stop the ball with his hand first then that is an IDFK offence.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The question you reference doesn't have to do with a throw-in; rather it involves a goalkeeper who 'touches the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a team-mate' (commonly and incorrectly termed a back-pass). If the keeper had allowed the ball to go in, it would have been an own-goal against the team.

If a ball is thrown in directly to the goalkeeper, you are correct that there is no reason for the keeper to try to stop it from entering the goal. But in the heat of the moment, the keeper might not think of that. She sees a ball coming toward the net, and instinct kicks in as she tries to prevent it. She doesn't consider that a glancing touch will convert the non-goal into an own-goal.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The job of the keeper is to keep the ball out of his goal. When faced with a ball heading towards his net, it's rare for the keeper to do anything other than stop it.