Question Number: 27368

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/28/2013

RE: Competive High School

Paul Sickman of Kansas City, MO Clay asks...

My daughter plays on the high school team. I am a novice at soccer but trying to learn all the rules. I have question on something that happened in her game. The ball was kicked from midfield toward the goal. The goalie came out to the get ball. My daughter reached the ball first and the goalie was a couple of seconds late and took out my daughter. What should the call have been.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Paul
As described that should have been a foul against the goalkeeper and the restart is an direct free kick or if it happened inside the penalty area a penalty kick. If the goalkeeper's actions were reckless then she should have been cautioned for unsporting conduct.
If the call was not made there could have been a number of reasons
1. It was not seen by the referee or
2. He thought the GK played the ball first or
3. The contact was a coming together of two players committed to the ball at the same time.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The first lesson for parents is that the referee doesn't always see it the same way as the coach or spectators. It is very difficult to judge distance between players and the ball from behind play (where the referee usually is located). It is very hard to judge where the players made contact with each other - - front to back, leg to ball, hip to body - - from the touchlines (where the coaches/fans are located). Since high school often uses only two referees, there is no assistant referee at a breakaway who may have the best angle of view to judge the player with the best position to play the ball.

Sometimes, the referee judges that the keeper had a clear chance to control the ball and that the attacker arrived late. Since keepers can use their hands and body, they usually will win a close race to the ball. Foul called against attacker. If very late, also a yellow card. If excessive force used, also a red card.

Or, the referee judges that the attacker had a already reached and controlled the ball, and the keeper arrived late. Foul called against keeper. If foul denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity, keeper is sent off (high school term-'disqualified') and is shown the red card.

Often, the referee judges that both players had an equal chance to win the ball. Even though there is hard contact, no foul has been committed. (My sons were keepers, so this was always the hardest decision for me to accept when I watched the match as a spectator.)