Question Number: 29899

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/8/2015

RE: competive Under 16

dan campbell of miami, fl usa asks...

if a defender inside the 18 controls the ball with his foot and the goalkeeper picks it up because he sees an attacker coming is there a foul

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Dan
Yes that is an infraction. The control of the ball with the foot by the defender is deemed to be a deliberate kick. It might not kick the ball very far yet it is still a kick. The restart is an IDFK from where the goalkeeper touched the ball with his hand/s

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Dan,
if it was a bang/bang play perhaps not but if it was played deliberately with the foot and then shielded to wait for the keeper's arrival most likely an INDFK . Your mentioning that an attacker was foiled in his attempt to participate might be the stake into the heart of this situation.
I have seen the ball contacted by a defender stretching out the leg to play the ball with the foot just ahead of his keeper yelling 'KEEPER' to warn him off. But this was more of a save than a deliberate kick to the keeper and as such I made no call. Even when opponents are in the mix, a save situation is much different then a deliberate play to use the foot with the purpose of ensuring the keeper was going to get it.
Time and circumstances
- no time no foul possibly doubtful
- time but no opponent likely no foul possibly trifling if technically a foul
- time +opponent = foul INDFK
Cheers