Question Number: 26056

Law 1- The Field 3/11/2012

RE: competitive Adult

Vincent of Seattle, WA United States asks...

Hi, on our last game my team was attacking; the forward shoots from inside the penalty area and the ball hits the referee who in my opinion should've been positioned in a better spot, the ball goes out of bounce thru the goal line, what is the proper restart? thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

While the referee's position is sometimes problematic, other times there's just no way to get out of the way. Believe me, we don't want to get hit by the ball, especially a hard shot!

That said, the referee is considered to be just another part of the field. If the ball bounces off her and goes off the field, the restart is whatever it would have been without an intervening touch by the ref. In your case, the ball was last touched by an attacker and went over the goal line without a goal being scored - that's a goal kick. If it had gone over the line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, it would be a goal, despite the referee's 'assist'.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The restart is a goal kick. When the ball hits the referee, it is treated the same as if the ball hit a rock. (With a referee inside the penalty area between the ball and the goal, a rock seems an apt metaphor.)

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Vincent
The restart is a goal kick. The referee is just part of the field of play so the last player to touch the ball is an attacking player.
Referees should be careful about positioning inside the penalty to prevent this happening