Question Number: 30449

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/24/2016

RE: Competitive Under 19

Thomas Schaller of Chicago, IL USA asks...

Had 2 penalty shout over the weekend in a very heated game.
First one ball came over the top behind the defense. Attacker outran defender, goalie comes out of the 6 yard box, ball bounces once pretty high, attacker and goalie rise, attacker gets a header off that bounces towards goal, goalie misses ball and clocks attacker in the head to goes down. Ball is eventually saved by another defender before crossing the line.
I watched the ball to see if it was going in, then I looked back at the moaning attacker and blew the whistle.

2nd one, ball was played behind defense from a low cross, again the attacker lost his mark and got to the ball first inside the box, goalie comes out, this time the attacker has a bit more time, but skies the ball high over the goal - as it crosses the end line, the goalie's momentum takes out the attacker who gets flipped over and yes, moans on the ground.

In your opinion, what is the correct restart in both situations?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Thomas
As described both may have been in my opinion penalty kicks. It is always difficult to make a call when one does not see the challenges and to depend solely on a description. In both instances it was unlikely that the fouls denied goal scoring opportunities so at worst they were cautionable offences.
The only doubtful point is in the second scenario where the referee could opine that the ball was out of play at the moment of the foul or that it was a coming together. We have all seen instances where after a chance has been taken where there is such a coming together after the ball has left the FOP.
The question I would poses is what would be the decision if these were two challenges at the half way line in similar circumstances. Both would probably be called as fouls and most likely cautions every single time. Therein lies the answers.

Answer provided by Referee James Sowa

Thomas,

As with most of these scenarios, you need to be there. From the sounds of them, the first one definitely sounds like a penalty kick. A goalkeeper gets no special exceptions to wipe a player out. The attacker fairly one the ball and then the goalie fouled him. You did a good job of waiting to see if the ball would enter the net but were correct in then blowing for the penalty.

As to the second one, I am a touch more skeptical. Since the shot is already away and missed, coupled with the fact that it may or may not be in play when the contact occurs, I am really on the fence here. I would advise to look at the force of the contact and the timing specifically to gauge whether or not this would be a PK. Based on your description above, I am leaning towards no foul since the ball was already out of play and a potential caution to the goalie for the reckless tackle. Restart with a GK. But again, this is one I'd need to see in person.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

For the 2nd situation, you said 'as (the ball) crosses the end line'. If the ball was already out of play then there is no foul and no penalty kick. The restart would be a goal kick (assuming the keeper did not touch the ball). If the ball had not gone out yet, then it would be a foul and penalty kick.

You would consider misconduct based on the severity of the challenge - and not necessarily the severity of any result of that challenge, although that can be part of our judgment. But you should not be thinking about Denying an Obvious Goal Scoring Opportunity (DOGSO) or a caution for breaking up a promising attacking play, because the ball was already heading out.

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See Question: 30452