Question Number: 30373

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/2/2016

RE: Competitive Under 14

Cary Campbell of Germantown, Tennessee United States asks...

I see this non call frequently in pros and it happened in a youth game yesterday, striker on breakaway, tries to dribble around the keeper running as fast as he can, his touch is too heavy ball goes out of bounds but the keeper takes his legs out, no pk given. Parents are yelling at ref and he says to them the striker had no chance at keeping ball in play. Not being sarcastic but isn't that horrible reasoning? Why not every time the ball is kicked way out of play you just kick the player next to you as hard as you like?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Cary
It makes no difference if the ball is going out of play or not. If the foul happens when the ball is in play then it is a penalty. There may be reluctance on some officials not to call a penalty when it is seen as perhaps a coming together with no impact on play
Now more frequently what happens is shielding of the ball by the defender or the goalkeeper as it runs out of play which may be legal or not. Many times those that are doubtful, perhaps marginally illegal are not given as there is doubt about the manner of the contact (shielding) and the position of the ball at the moment of contact ie was it within playing distance or not, was the ball out of play. That type of contact is entirely different from taking a players legs out which should always be called. The referee reasoning here is flawed. If he had said the ball was out of play at the time of the contact it could not be a foul yet it still could be misconduct.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Cary,
In the Penalty Area there is often a reluctance to call a foul. There tends to be a particular reluctance when the foul hasn't had an effect on play (and there also tends to be more lenience on late tackles than elsewhere on the field). None of this should occur - it shouldn't matter where on the field the foul occurs - but unfortunately it is how the law is often applied.

Often in these scenarios it is a bit of a 50-50 collision and not clearly a foul either way, or the keeper comes out, stops a moment before the last attacking touch, the attacker touches the ball around him but can't move his body around the keeper. This isn't a foul by the keeper (could actually be a foul by the attacker). May not be what you're thinking of, but I just wanted to highlight that common scenario.

But yes, you're correct that when it's clearly been a late challenge by the keeper, these should be penalised even if the ball is going out. If the ball is already out, however, then a penalty kick cannot be awarded - it can only be a goal kick or corner kick - but the keeper could still be cautioned or sent off if it's severe enough.