Question Number: 33447

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/15/2019

RE: Competitive Adult

Matthew Gibson of Sydney, New South Wales Australia asks...

As a goalkeeper I charged out and punched away a ball that was crossed into the box. As I punched the ball away I collected the opposition striker who was half my size so he came off 2nd best. Ref gave me a yellow card and awarded them a penalty for colliding with the striker in the back and using what he viewed as excessive force (there was just a big body collision, no contact with the head or use of elbows or knees)

Is there actually a rule limiting how hard a goalkeeper can attack a ball or does a goalkeeper need to avoid contact if it may be too heavy?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Matthew
It is in the opinion of the referee on the day.
The Laws do not allow a challenge to be careless, reckless or use excessive force. Playing the ball is not a get out of jail card so if a player including a goalkeeper acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent it is an offence and the player must be cautioned.
In your situation the referee obviously opined that your action was reckless hence the caution and the penalty kick.
Now sometimes the attacker can be moving towards the ball in the same way as the goalkeeper and it is coming together with no reckless element from either player. Depending on who plays the ball first it can be foul either way.
If however the goalkeeper knows that an opponent is stood there and he crashes into the player showing no regard for the opponents safety then it is certainly a caution and perhaps even a red. The web has many examples of excessive force challenges by goalkeepers.
Safety is a key consideration and no referee wants a player making heavy contact on an opponent in a way that could easily injury them. Yes there can be coming together at speed which may be anticipated by both players such as a group of players making aerial challenges for the ball.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Matthew, No rules but laws explaining that in ANY challenge you bear responsibility in HOW you decide to go about it!
(1) Charging (explained in law 12 as fouls & misconduct) is actually a DFK foul & judged if Careless, Reckless ( Cautionable show a yellow card) or Excessive (SEND OFF show a red card reducing the team numbers)
(2)Whereas a keeper punching the ball is not a foul UNLESS it is done outside his own PA in which case a DFK or there was a illegal handling restriction of some sort in effect an INDFK inside the PA.
So the key is how to get you to do the 2nd thing without doing the first one? lol
While it remains ITOOTR as to whether he deems your efforts as,

(OK) No foul just a coming together, however, there are repercussions if he sees it as a

(a) careless foul that is a DFK, if inside your PA it becomes a PK.

(b) reckless foul that is a DFK, if inside your PA it becomes a PK. but it has a addendum which becomes cautionable misconduct followed by a yellow card as USB for performing an unsafe act.

(c) excessive foul that is a DFK, if inside your PA it becomes a PK. but it has a further addendum because you performed a act of violence & blatantly disregarded the safety of the opponent thus a red card send off reducing your team by a player.

I have watched in disbelief at horrific possibly career ending type fouls allowed to go unscathed in cases where a keeper has come forward at great speed, then leapt FORWARD with arms extended and knee up, into the back or front of an attacker, to punch out a ball or did it in a slide tackle version using their feet. . His job to make a save is not a licence to clearly violate f the safety of the opponent in that the mass & speed of the keeper is in fact a FORCE projectile which destroys the player in front of him. It is usually the leap FORWARD rather than jump up that causes this to occur.

A keeper coming forward then going/jumping straight up has far less culpability in any collision for doing his job because he is no longer a forward missile just a player,(possibly), challenging fairly for the ball. The direction of how this interaction occurs certainly mitigates the power of the collision and if a keeper is grasping the ball the opponent ''Must bail'' from the challenge, as he cannot challenge a keeper with possession. So there is potential for you to be fouled by attackers blindly running in or backing up. That though is left to the discretion of the referee and since he only cautioned you he did not view the force as excessive which it may well have been thus you got off lucky.

The knee up is often coached as a safety aspect for a keeper when jumping up high to push away or grab a high incoming ball so he is not undercut easily by a charging attacker. There is no doubt a keeper is vulnerable when stretched out but that knee raise and forward movement at speed leaping up onto & into and through the back of opponents, is of grave concern. My suggestion if you are reaching over top to use your hands on the ball to punch it or grab it, try not to run over the player ahead of you but cushion the impact to the best of your ability and try going :up: into the air, not forward onto their backs.
Cheers

https://youtu.be/BBSWw84R8Sg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UnMBH3EGWM&feature=player_embedded

BOTH these are RED card send off incident but NEITHER was

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Matthew,
The provisions governing when a physical challenge by a player (whether it be a goalkeeper or an outfield player) is a foul, are to be found in Law 12. As my colleagues have pointed out, any physical challenge that the referee judges to be careless, reckless or using excessive force, is illegal. There are no special provisions for goalkeepers in this respect, they are subject to the same law as everyone else.

Incidentally, it is clear that the referee here did not consider that you used excessive force - because if he had, you would have received a red card. As you received only a yellow, this means the referee viewed your challenge on the opponent as reckless. As per the Laws of the Game, reckless is defined as:

''when a player acts with disregard to the danger to, or consequences for, an opponent''

Quite evidently then, when challenging an opponent (again, regardless of whether you are an outfield player or a goalkeeper) you must have regard for the consequences of your actions and the danger you might be posing for the opponent.