Question Number: 29780

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/5/2015

RE: AYSO/REC GU14 Under 15

B Alex Camacho of Temple City, CA USA asks...

So in the game GU14 I did have one 'non-call' which in my opinion was justified but probably would be considered controversial. Good scenario so I thought I would share.....

The ball comes back into the defensive 3rd and a defender plays it back to the keeper off of the knee. Now it was debatable whether the play/pass was deliberate or accidental. It is still however fair to pass it back to the keeper off the knee according to the law.

The coach of the attacking team starts hooting and hollering that the goalie cannot pick it up with her hands. He does this so much that the keeper gets flustered and drops the ball to the ground and then picks it up again obviously affected by the coach and sidelines yelling at her. She ends up kicking the ball out to a defender.

Now technically, I could make a call against the goalie for dropping the ball and picking it up again which would be an indirect kick to the attacking team. However in the spirit of the game I did not want to give an advantage to the attacking coach for yelling and hollering at players in order to gain an advantage for his team. (whether intentional or inadvertent). This in my opinion is an example of refereeing within the spirit of the game as opposed to the letter of the law.

Now I could see a referee making the call against the goalie but in my scenario I wouldn't feel right about the call due to the circumstances.

Thoughts?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alex
You do not describe the way the ball was dropped by the goalkeeper. If the ball was thrown down after a clear catch and possession then the GK should know that a pick up is illegal. If the ball drops as part of the catch and the ball bounces up again with it being caught properly then I don't see that as a release of possession.
In my game yesterday the GK came to stop a ball bouncing high over the goal line and he reached up to stop it with his hand with the ball bouncing down and he picked it up immediately on the first bounce. That was all part of one action and he released the ball then within 6 seconds. It was not a parry and it was not even noted by the opponents.
Now in the context of outside influences the referee has to consider if those are illegal or not. Appeals for decisions are part of the game and while we might question the unsporting nature or otherwise we have to opine if there is an offence or not. If there is no offence then any illegal action has to be punished. If say a team including the coach was claiming offside and the team stopped playing would the referee intervene? The answer would be no. Similarly unless the actions here were illegal the referee just has to consider what actually happened and decide accordingly.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Alex,

When you start breaking the laws - or permitting them to be broken - you're getting into dangerous territory. I fully appreciate your consideration for what's best for the game, especially given the issue at hand - the keeper was influenced by the opposing coach, and I would agree that it's a bit unfair for the keeper to be penalised and the coach's actions to be rewarded. Does that justify a clear offence going unpunished though?

I'm concerned about the coach's actions, particularly at this age. Given the keeper's response, it seems like the coach's level of dissent has actually interfered with the match. You would have been justified in stopping the game, speaking with the coach, then restarting with a drop ball as you stopped play to deal with the coach, not because of any offence. It's very rare to stop play to deal with a coach, but given his actions have interfered with play (And the keeper's actions are forcing a decision), it would be justified here. Also, given that his appealing seems to be excessive, even crossing into dissent, it sounds completely unnecessary so it does need to be dealt with. Especially at such a young age.

For your information, the initial decision was correct. Even if it had come off the defender's shin, it still wouldn't be an offence.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Alex,
.
You are spot on the knee is not the foot so it is not an offence for the keeper to use the hands. The drop could be construed as a bounce but again 6 seconds of actual possession is allowed. The keeper could be permitted to reacquire the ball given the unfair interference as you suggest a spirit call to even out the fairness. Still at the youth level the coach is permitted to tactically instruct HIS team. His comments reflect USB and he could be taken to task for it. A drop ball direct to the keeper could solve the restart issue once you speak to the coach.
Cheers

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

See Question: 29789