Question Number: 32546

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/25/2018

RE: Competitive Under 19

Salvador Flores of Indianapolis, IN United States asks...

Question 1: So I had a question on deliberate handling, if a player is trying to trap the ball with his or her thigh or even foot and he or she has his or her hands wide open and the ball deflects off her thigh or foot to one of his or her arms, is it deliberate handball? I don't think it is my opinion, because in the law of the game it doesn't state anything about natural or unatural position. Instead, it states that the hand has to play the hand and the other way around. It also states that the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an offence.

Question 2: If a foul is committed inside the pk area for the defending team, the ball has to leave the pk area before an opponent can challenge or play the ball. If the keeper kicks the ball to a defender before it goes out of the pk area, does the free kick have to be retaken, since it never went out of the pk area and it was touched by a defender?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Sal,

Question 1
as an OPINION on a fact of play the handling issue of whether a deliberate action is unintended boggles so many of us for decisions given simply due to unfair looking contact. The fact is we hold players accountable if they deliberately intervene to play the ball and a mistake is not something we generally reward . If the action is instinctive, close quarter with very little time to think through the skill and technique we should likely see it as deflection thus accidental no call. Yet if it is a blocking move into the path of the ball with time and space to consider what the player might do we may well see it a deliberate.

Question 2
always a retake if the ball is played prior to exiting the PA. Cautions always possible for delaying the restart .

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Salvador
Generally when a ball bounces unexpectedly off say a thigh, knee and hits an arm it is rarely ever deliberate handling. The ball has come from a very short distance and it hits the arm which is not deliberate.
Now there can be the odd time when a player positions his arms in a way that predicts a wayward ball or deliberately directs the ball with the arm. Those are DHB situations and should be punished.
What we are looking for is natural movements, unexpected ball that hits the arm and nothing that looks contrived.
On all kicked restarts inside the penalty area by the defending team the ball must leave the penalty area for it to be in play. So if a player plays the ball before it leaves the penalty area it is a retake. If it was done deliberately by a defender then the referee could caution for delaying the restart and if an opponent committed a reckless *foul* before the ball is in play it can be a caution for misconduct. The restart though does not change. Generally in most instances a retake is all that is required.