Question Number: 30563

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 7/3/2016

RE: Adult

Binerla of Bamenda, Northwest Cameroo asks...

This question is a follow up to question 25436

I was playing a match and in the case where there is a face to face ball between the goal keeper and an attacker and the atacker gets the ball first person then he meet with the goal keeper and both fell down.the attacker get up and scores his goal and the referee council the goal. Now what is the truth about this case

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Bineria
I assume you mean cancel the goal. It reads like the referee decided that there was a foul on the goalkeeper in which case no goal can be awarded. In the case of no foul or that there was a foul on the attacker by the goalkeeper he would allow play to continue.. In both cases a goal would be awarded.
So what I read that is that the contact between the attacker and the goalkeeper which was judged by the referee as a foul by the attacker. Without seeing it is not possible to comment. I might add that getting to the ball first does not always mean no foul as the manner of getting to the ball first can be careless / reckless such as say an outstretched raised boot or lunging from a distance.
I would also point out as I have done many times that the referee has an angle of view that he sees the game from. He can see a foul or not or he can miss it. One only has to look at the game at the highest level to see that referees can and do miss incidents or that their interpretation is different from ours.
In the France v Iceland game there was a challenge where an Icelandic player played the ball first although he did so in a reckless manner with a raised boot with studs showing. The referee awarded a direct free kick to France and cautioned the player. In the case of goalkeepers referees tend to be cautious on challenges involving goalkeepers. Some say perhaps too protective at times yet safety is vital.