Question Number: 29978

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 12/8/2015

RE: Intermediate AYSO Under 15

Paul Del Signore of Ojai, Ca USA asks...

Goalie steps out of penalty box to retrieve ball using feet to control ball, dribbles the ball back into the penalty box and picks up the ball. Has the goalie committed a foul by touching the ball twice?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Paul,
first we must determine how did that ball get to be OUTSIDE the PA (penalty area ) and if there are restrictions on the keeper's ability to use his hands?

If the keeper can access the ball with his feet outside his PA without restriction then he did not just take a free kick to put it there! Otherwise that foot use would be a 2nd touch violation for any contact given no one from either team would have played /touched the ball.

Law 13 Free kicks Procedure
For both direct and indirect free kicks, the ball must be stationary when the
kick is taken and the kicker must not touch the ball again until it has touched
another player. the punishment for doing so is an INDFK restart from where the 2nd touch occurs

(1) IF he had just released the ball from his hands as a matter of the 6 seconds of permissible possession from inside the PA and is now dribbling the ball that is fine but if he was to dribble it back inside the PA and use his hands again, since no other player from either team had played/touched the ball, then that COULD be a 2nd touch violation of the HANDS with an INDFK restart.

Law 12
A goalkeeper is not permitted to touch the ball with his hand inside his own
penalty area in the following circumstances:
• if he handles the ball again after it has been released from his possession
and has not touched any other player:
The punishment for doing so is an INDFK restart from where the 2nd touch occurs

(2) If the ball the keeper is accessing outside the PA using his feet was a ball that ITOOTR was last deliberately kicked by a team mate to the keeper there is a chance that the keeper is RESTRICTED in his ability to handle the ball legally inside his own area. He was fine to use his feet, but wrong in thinking to take that ball back into his PA he could use his hands, as the restriction is in effect based on who last played the ball and the manner in which it was played. Not a 2nd touch violation just a handling violation.

A goalkeeper is not permitted to touch the ball with his hand inside his own
penalty area in the following circumstances:
• if he touches the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to
him by a team-mate
• if he touches the ball with his hands after he has received it directly from a
throw-in taken by a team-mate
Restart of play
• Indirect free kick from the position where the offence occurred
(see Law 13 – Position of free kick) it refers to the special restrictions with the goal area where the ball is not placed from where the 2nd touch occurs or illegal handling but placed straight back on the outer edge of the 6 yard goal area that parallels the goal line

(3) If the keeper had prior contact with the ball like a save or a deflection or had simply kicked it away poorly and he pursued that ball outside his PA to dribble it back inside and then pick it up as long as he had not violated the LOTG by having previously controlled possession of the hands or the ball was originally deliberately kicked to him by a team mate or direct throw -in then there are no restrictions that prevent his dribbling the ball outside the PA coming back inside his PA and then use his hands for the allowable 6 seconds of possession granted under the LOTG.

The main point here is to understand the keeper's restrictions are not altered if a ball is outside or inside the PA. Most often a keeper can dribble a ball when he wants, where he wants just that his use of hands are only permitted inside his PA. The pass back aspect by a team mate is not in effect on a ball that is defected, headed, chested, kneed or otherwise NOT deliberately kicked or directly thrown by a team mate as the keeper is permitted the free use of his hands, same as if the ball was received off an opponent.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Paul
The answer lies in whether the ball was deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team mate or that the ball was released from the goalkeeper's posession. In both instances he is prevented from touching the ball with his hands again until it has been touched by an opponent or a team mate in a manner that allows him to do so.
So a goalkeeper, dribbling a ball into the penalty area that has been say, kicked by an opponent, is not an offence when it is picked up. However, should the ball been kicked by a team mate then it is.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It's certainly not a case of a second touch - that only applies if the goalkeeper touches the ball twice with her hands.

As my colleagues have noted, how the ball got to the keeper makes all the difference. If the ball made it into the penalty area and you should have called the keeper for handling a ball deliberately kicked to him by a teammate, that still applies if he played it with his feet first, either inside or outside the PA.