Question Number: 29053

Law 16 - Goal Kick 12/15/2014

RE: youth league Under 7

tim johnson of valdosta, GA US asks...

On a goal kick the ball was kicked and did not make it outside the penalty area; a player then picked up the ball and was called for a hand ball inside the box (free kick for opposing team); since the ball never left the penalty area my belief was the ball was never in play and a re-kick of the goal kick should have been the call?????

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Tim,

You're absolutely correct. Because the ball is not in play until it leaves the Penalty Area, there is no possibility of anything occurring to change it to another restart before the ball leaves the Penalty Area.

The goal kick should have been retaken.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Tim,
Hmmm U-7 field set up and altered lotgs often are hard to fathom but if the laws are similar then yes the goal kick should be retaken as it is not yet in play if it has not left the penalty area. But I have see matches played without keeper and without any lines at all at that age. Why would a player stop to pick the ball up rather than kick it ? Granted 5 and 6 year olds often have their own reasoning but I question though how was the field set up and how old the referee as in all things experience plays a part?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Tim
Law 16 states that at a goal kick the ball is not in play until it leaves the penalty area. So a ball touched inside the penalty area in any manner is a retake. The player could still be cautioned for unsporting behaviour for delaying the restart etc however the restart is still a goal kick.
Now as this happened at an U7 game I'm not sure that a U7 player would know this or for that matter why would he pick the ball up. I suspect that there may have been adult involvement in this situation.
I would also point out that deliberate handling inside the penalty area by the defending team when the ball is in play is a penalty kick to the attacking team. If there was a free kick awarded it might lead me to believe that some of the Laws have been amended for small sided ULittles games which could include Law 16 changes as well. Some U Little fields of play don't have a penalty area just an area that the goalkeeper can legally handle the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The referee in this game - probably in his first or second season, given it was U7 - made a mistake. The ball was never in play, so a foul cannot happen. The kick should have been retaken.

Just as it takes U7 players a while to learn the game, it takes referees at that level a while to learn all the Laws.

I was well beyond my first year when I had a temporary brain freeze and couldn't remember what I should do if the player touched that slow-moving ball that wasn't going to exit the area. Fortunately it came to me before I made an error.