Question Number: 31434

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/6/2017

RE: Varsity High School

Aaron Speca of Virginia Beach, VA United States asks...

These two plays were the center of some discussion among the parents at our out-of-state soccer match this past weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jsd-lM5pYgo

The first play was called a foul (DFK just outside the box) and the second was not. After watching them several times, I think I've diagnosed that the difference between the two is that in the second play, the defender (in white) although sliding over and technically initiating contact was able to get her body between the player in black and the ball and it appears did play the ball with her left foot. I wanted to see if my supposition was correct.

However, that brought up another issue with the second play, which is why I slowed it down and repeated it in this video clip. Since the defender played the ball with her foot back towards the keeper and the keeper subsequently handled the ball, is that a violation that should have resulted in an IFK where the keeper handled the ball?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Aaron
Two correct decisions for me plus on the first one the referee could not be much closer to make the call.
On the first one the defender makes no effort to play the ball making foul contact with the attacker
On the second one the defender gets to the ball first between the attacker and the ball so it is simply a coming together with no foul. As it is a tackle any kicks of the ball is not seen as a deliberate kick just a tackle which then allows the GK to touch the ball with her hands. A referee would need to be 100% certain it was a deliberate kick before making the call. There is sufficient doubt here for me to say that it was not a deliber kick to the GZk.
All in all I would have no issue with any of the calls.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Aaron,
Thanks for the video as always.
Video can be tricky - things can look different from different angles.
I expect that some may have seen the first incident as a shoulder-to-shoulder challenge. Defender simply trying to muscle in on the attacker's field position and moving for the ball.
But the problem is that there is leg contact which brings the attacker down. This isn't a charge, but a trip. That's what makes this one a foul. Given she was running straight into a couple of defenders anyway, I don't see this as breaking up a significant attack so just a free kick will suffice.

For the second one - it looks to me like the defender has stepped in front of the attacker, and the attacker, in attempting to maintain her position, runs into the back of the defender. I actually think the attacker has tried to lean towards the defender to try and muscle her away from the ball, but did this too late thus her lean ended up being into the back of the defender and she fell down from there. Clean tackle - though as referees we know these will always yield shouts of 'in the back ref!'.

It's a good pickup on the potential kick to the keeper. For the foul of 'keeper handles the ball after it has been deliberately kicked to her by a teammate', there must be a deliberate kick, and the kick must be to the keeper or where the keeper can control it. For 'deliberate kick to the keeper' to be satisfied, we're looking at control.

Around the world there are differing view on what can happen when a tackle like this is involved. Some would argue that in any tackle, it could never be called a foul for this. Others - myself included - believe that it may be possible to see the foul called, but you want to give the defender a very strong benefit of the doubt. So, a foul is very unlikely. I confess here, being Australian I do not know if there are any particular teachings in the US about this.

My point is - even though I believe it may be possible for the foul of the keeper handling the ball after deliberately kicked to her by a teammate to result from a tackle, I wouldn't call it here. The defender got a foot in, but I'm not convinced this was a controlled play by the defender. I think she stuck the foot into the tackle, and as an unintended consequence it went to the keeper. Maybe that wasn't it - but you always want to give the defender the benefit of the doubt. Especially when it's a tackle like this - you want to really err on the side of a heavy benefit of the doubt here. Unless the referee believes with absolute certainty that it was a deliberate kick to the keeper, there's no foul.

And of course - this all depends upon the referee recognising that it was the defender to kicked the ball and there wasn't a final touch by the attacker. If there is any doubt at all over that, safest bet is to just allow play to continue.