Question Number: 31729

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/23/2017

RE: Competitive Under 13

Bennett McElwee of Auckland, New Zealand asks...

If the keeper in his penalty area has the ball deliberately kicked to him by a teammate, is it legal for him to stop and control the ball with his feet and then pick it up?

How about from a throw-in?

I feel the wording of the laws is unclear on this point.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Bennet
hmmm in my opinion the wording is actually fairly straight forward. The keeper is restricted from the use of his hands if the ball is deliberately kicked to him by a team mate or received directly from a throw in by a team mate.
I see very little ambiguity in this? Why would the keeper be first allowed the use of his feet as a reason to use his hands? The FACT he cannot use his hands is WHY he MUST use his feet because of HOW he received the ball?
So in essence although you may feel the wording is not clear the indfk that would follow would make it clear that it is an infringement.

Keep in mind the ball could be kicked or throw in from any direction as a deliberate action by the teammate and even if the keeper ventured outside his area to retrieve such a ball then dribble it around back into his PA if he bends down to use the hands once they touch the ball it will be an indfk from that spot as that handling RESTRICTION remains in place!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Bennet,

The laws state that if the goalkeeper handles the ball after receiving it directly from a teammate's throw-in, or after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a teammate, it's an IFK.

So that means it doesn't matter what the keeper does in between receiving it and handling it - it's an IFK. He can run around outside and inside the PA, juggle the ball with his feet, anything. Was it a TI directly from a teammate or a deliberate kick to him from a teammate? Did he handle it? That's all that matters.

Bear in mind that these also include when the ball has been thrown/kicked into space near the keeper when it's clear the keeper is the intended recipient.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Bennett
The Law is very clear on this. Once the ball has been deliberately kicked or thrown to the goalkeeper by a team mate the goalkeeper may not touch the ball with his hand/s. It makes no difference what the goalkeeper does with the ball after the ball has been kicked to him which can include controlling the ball with his foot, chesting the ball, dribbling etc or where he does that which includes outside the penalty area. The use of the hands restriction still applies so it is an IDFK from where the GK touches the ball with his hands inside the penalty area. To quote the relevant section
** An indirect free kick is awarded if a goalkeeper, inside their penalty area, commits any of the following offences:
# controls the ball with the hands for more than six seconds before releasing it
# touches the ball with the hands after:
- releasing it and before it has touched another player
- it has been deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team-mate
- receiving it directly from a throw-in taken by a team-mate**
If you think about this law it would be far too easy for the GK to use his foot to stop and control the ball every single time if that was all that he needed to do to lift the restriction of not using the hands in such situations. In fact most deliberate kicks to the GK by defenders are to his feet as that gives him more time to control the ball so that it can be kicked away.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Bennett,
I'm not sure why you think the law is unclear on this. In common with my colleagues, I see no ambiguity or lack of clarity. Once the ball has been deliberately kicked or directly thrown-in to the goalkeeper by a team mate, the keeper may not touch it with their hands. It doesn't matter if they touch the ball with their feet first or not.