Question Number: 30897

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/14/2016

RE: High School

Michael Kuntz of Eden Prairie, MN United States asks...

We were watching a soccer game. There was a breakaway. The goalie came out of the goalkeeper area and tried to slide tackle the ball from the breakway player. She didn't get any ball and took down the breakaway plaayer.

She was given a red card and the offensive team given a free kick from the spot outside of the gol area. Which is the correct call since she was outside of the box.

The goalkeeper was sent off. My quesitons is what is the proper procedure for replacing the sent off goalkeeper. Can they sub the goalkeeper before the free kick.

Thanks for the help.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Michael
What you witnessed was probably a foul that denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity. The sanction for this offence is a red card and the restart is a direct free kick from where the foul occurred. The team plays short from that restart. As a team has to have a goalkeeper then one of the remaining 10 players on the field has to go into goal. Alternatively the team can make a substitution and bring on a goalkeeper for one of the 10.
Interestingly in FIFA games the law has been updated recently in that if the foul now results in a penalty kick the referee can issue a caution instead of dismissing the player provided a genuine attempt was made to play the ball not the opponent.
In FIFA games the answer is the same to your question as there is no penalty with the foul denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity outside the penalty area.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Michael,
It would appear the keeper was sent off for either an excessive force foul OUTSIDE the PA or one that has denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity. The correct restart would be a DFK from the point of the infraction once the red card was shown and the keeper sent off reducing them to 10 players. As it is mandatory that each team MUST have a keeper, a new one will have to fill the void from either of the 10 players still on the field or one of those ten must be substituted to allow for a new keeper to come in off the bench
This has more to do with FIFA lotg.
Assuming there are still substitution opportunities the onfield player maybe replaced but if the available subs were used up or there were restrictions then one of the ten players LEFT on the field MUST replace the keeper. I believe in high school they have unlimited options to substitute but can not confirm it entirely.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Michael,
The high school rule concerning the goal keeper is NFHS Rule 3-1-1. It indicates that at all times, each team must have a designated goalkeeper when the ball is in play. Thus, this answers your question concerning when the goalkeeper can be replaced. The goalkeeper must be replaced before the ball is put into play. This goalkeeper could be a field player or a substitute from the bench. In either case, because the goalkeeper was disqualified, the team will have to play short one player. Also, as you indicated, a disqualification with a direct free kick was the correct call as the take-down denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity (NFHS Rule 12-8-2-d3). Unfortunately, take-downs of this nature are a common occurrence in high school play. By the way, I will be pheasant hunting near Minneapolis in November and will try to get to your state soccer finals at US Bank Stadium. I hope that your team is successful and I get to see them play. Good Luck!