Question Number: 33183

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 3/24/2019

RE: Rec, U7-U18 High School

Keith Ericson of beaverton, OR US asks...

When the passback prohibition rule came in back in 1991 or 92 we discussed the 'trickery' aspect of the rule. Clearly, if a lone teammate of the GK flips the ball into the air and then heads it back to his 'keeper this is a passback (actually 'trickery') violation. What we were taught back then is that if GK teammate 'A' kicks the ball to then GK teammate 'B' and then 'B' heads the ball to the GK that this is a 'trickery' violation and thus the referee should stop play, caution player 'B' and restart with an IFK at the point 'B' headed the ball.
My problem is that I see exactly this sequence of play at the highest level (e.g., EPL) and nothing is done about it. GK teammate 'A' is, e.g., near the touchline, almost to midline, he long-balls it back to his Center Fullback just outside the PA who then heads it to GK. GK catches the ball, puts it back into play and the referee does nothing about i.
Am I missing something here?

Thanks!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Keith
Trickery to circumvent Law 12 or NFHS Rule is prohibited which is a caution to the offender and an IDFK restart in FIFA and an IDFK in NFHS.
Now what is NOT viewed as trickery is the long ball into or close to the penalty area that is headed back to the goalkeeper by a team mate. I have seen this given as an offence mainly in US games on video and in my opinion it is not what is intended in the law / rule.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-IMP19M5MrQ
Was this deserving of a caution. Would it merit a red card if it was a second caution. Was there significant benefit here given the GK picked the ball up immediately rather than say dribbling the ball away to a corner of the penalty area to eat up time. In fact there does not appear to be any concern expressed by the attacking team as the players knew the ball was going to be put into play smartly.
The circumvention advice was to prevent the flick up to the head in close proximity to the GK where it is without doubt a no risk play to circumvent . That is a very long way from a long kick from distance that can be seen as a pass between team mates with the receiver choosing within the laws to head, chest the ball back to the goalkeeper. The ball has been available for challenge both at the kicker and at the receiver and the opponents chose not to push up to pressure / challenge for the ball. The goalkeeper has 6 seconds from when he touches the ball with his hands to get the ball back into play.
One could say that this Law has matured as has the 6 seconds Law since they were first introduced. It has prevented the constant back passing that blighted the game before the law was introduced. There is an onus on the opponents if they want to stop the ball getting to the GK in such a manner to push up to challenge for the ball which they can clearly do as it is without doubt available for challenge in the air for a distance.
If there was some contrived three player *trick* of teammates in close proximity to each other then the referee could use the *circumvention* Law to deal with it particularly when the import of the action is without question to circumvent the law. I have never seen this happen and the benefits are extremely limited anyway at best 6 seconds.
While on the subject here are called *backpasses* which I saw online which should not have been called.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=a7o2eqJKb8I
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7esEwniKXqQ&t=3s
From next season this cannot Under any circumstances be called as a back pass. Personally I would let that slide.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3EErKzoH48
The new decision highlights what the law makers thinking is on this matter and has been for some tine.
It was to stop this from happening which it has done
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SX2HcvMkOiA

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Keith,

Since this rule has been in effect, I have observed several thousand high school games,. I do not recall ever seeing a pass from one player to a second player in order to circumvent NFHS Rule 12.7-Note or that could be defined as Trickery.

For this type of trickery to occur, in my opinion, there must be forethought, a high skill level, and a substantial benefit. These requirements reduce the probability of high school game occurrence.

I do hope that you have a very successful fall, 2019 boys and girls high school season.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Kieth,
the fact that he ball can be challenged for, the fact that the keeper must release the ball quickly, the fact there is a degree of risk in doing so . Player A kicks the ball to player B who heads it to the keeper is NOT a circumvention. Never was. Only a single player involved creates this. Same as a throw in to the head of a teammate then to the keeper so he can punt the ball out. The fact such a tactic can be challenged renders it not one of suitability.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Keith,
Neither the NFHS rules nor the IFAB laws specifically address the scenario of two players combining to perform trickery. Both sets of provisions only talk about a player (singular) being involved. Now obviously if it is considered unsporting behaviour for one player to do this then there is an argument to be made that if two players could somehow perform a deliberate trick in combination, that would also be against the intent of the law. However in all the discussions I have seen on this, it has been fairly consistently held that this could only realistically be the case if the two players are standing in close proximity to each other and the goalkeeper and there is no opponent nearby who might intervene. Once the distance between the players increases sufficiently, it becomes more and more unlikely that this is being done as a deliberate trick.

I know from conducting countless training drills over the years that the skill level required to put the ball on a specific player's head even from a relatively few yards is high. As ref Manjone says, this pretty much precludes it being used as a tactic in High School games and as we frequently see on the TV, even professional players struggle with this.

I have to say I have never seen an instance of a player playing a ball from the kind of distance you are suggesting that I would consider as meeting the definition of a deliberate trick to circumvent the law.