Question Number: 30521

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/17/2016

RE: rec Under 12

pete of floral park, ny usa asks...

Hi Guys, Two questions (1) if a defender under no pressure kicks the ball back into his own penalty area away from the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper picks it up would that be considered a deliberate backpass. (2) blue team gets an Indirect free kick just outside the opponents penalty area player one steps on the ball the ball does not move player two takes a shot and ball goes over the goal out of play. what is the restart on this play.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Pete
1. Yes this is a deliberate kick to the goalkeeper. The kick can be to the GK or a place where the GK can collect the ball and then pick it up. The kick for example could be to the GK outside the penalty area and the restriction still applies even if he has to dribble the ball.
On Q2 the referee has to determine if the ball moves. The kick can be a foot roll, a toe poke etc. the key us whether the ball moved or not. The new updated Laws has now added the word CLEARLY to kicks and clearly moves to help with the interpretation. If it clearly moves it is in play. If it is a wobble then that is a matter of opinion.
Have a look at this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46pnEQXfIu8
This obviously should not have happened. If the player had stepped in the ball the furore would not have ensued .
It looked like the AR was focused on offside while the referee was looking at the drop area. Both missed the non kick.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Pete,

For question 1, the LOTG (Laws of the Game) state that it is an indirect free kick if the goalkeeper handles the ball after it has been deliberately kicked to them by a teammate.
This includes a kick into space for the keeper to run onto. It doesn't matter if the goalkeeper receives it outside the PA then dribbles it in - it's still an indirect free kick. If an opponent got a touch on the ball though, then no offence has occurred
Question 2 - the LOTG state the ball is in play when it is kicked and moves. Some referees believes 'moves' mean it must roll from the spot - I would argue this is incorrect, and most referees would accept a wobble on the spot as movement. If the referee does not consider it to have moved, then the first touch may as well have never happened - the actual shot is what has put the ball into play.
But given the ball missed the goal, none of that is relevant - 1st touch or 2nd touch, if it went over the goal line without touching a defender it's a goal kick. Whether it's an indirect, the first touch or the second touch is only relevant in deciding if a goal is scored.