Question Number: 30284

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/13/2016

RE: Adult

Christian of Port Harcourt , Rivers State Nigeria asks...

This question is a follow up to question 24344

Please I want to know, if a defender's body is outside the 18 yard box and the ball hit his hand that is inside the 18 yard box, is it considered a penalty?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Christian,
All that is important is the location of the ball. So, if the ball is inside the Penalty Area (and 'inside' can also mean '99% outside the PA but a sliver is still on the boundary line to the PA - that still counts as the ball being inside the PA), and it is deliberately handled by a defender, it's a penalty kick. Even if the defender and his hand are outside the PA.
Don't forget, it needs to be deliberately handled - accidental handling is no offence, even if it falls to that player's feet.
Most other fouls come down to the location of contact, but deliberate handling is a little different.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Christian,
we need to examine your statement! You say the ball hit the hand? If the Handling is not deliberate there is no foul inside or outside the PA!
If in the opinion of the referee there is a foul of deliberate handling, it is a DFK offence. If this handling occurs INSIDE the PA it is upgraded to a PK as are ALL DFKS restarts.

A key point about the foul location on handling the ball deliberately is the BALL location is the deciding factor not where the handling contacts the ball. For a PK to be awarded the ball must be inside or overhang the PA boundary lines when it is deliberately handled. It does NOT matter which part of the ball is being contacted inside or outside, if even part of the ball is overhanging the boundary lines that offence would be moved into a PK. That is why a keeper can be completely outside his penalty area and still place his hand on a ball that is barely overhanging the PA boundary lines as the ball is considered INSIDE the PA .

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Christian
It is the location of the ball that matters not the location of the player. So if a player is standing outside the penalty area and he deliberately uses his hand inside the penalty area to touch the ball the restart is a penalty kick.
In the recent Champions League game between Benfica and Bayern Munich a Bayern player handled the ball inside the penalty area. The player was standing outside the penalty area and the referee incorrectly believed the offence happened outside the area so he awarded a direct free kick instead of the penalty. I can assure you the error was made not because he did not know the law just that he was unsure of where the contact on the ball happened at speed during play. Viðeo technology showed that the handling offence happened inside the penalty area.