Question Number: 33475

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/24/2019

RE: Competitive Under 14

Arham Hafeez of Sharjah, Sharjah United Arab Emirates asks...

Is it allowed for the player or striker to shoot the ball if the goalie has one of the hands on top of the ball and the rest is on the ground because my brother said that its not a goal?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI,
give your brother some credit! He is correct, if the keeper has the ball trapped between his hand & the ground, he has legal ball possession & it is UNPLAYABLE by the opposition. This would be, no goal and the restart would be a DFK out with possible card (yellow caution or red send off ) depending on whether it was only careless, USB reckless or even excessive misconduct. Think on the damage to the keepers' hand or fingers that COULD occur?

The LOTG

QUOTE
A goalkeeper is considered to be in control of the ball with the hand(s) when:

the ball is between the hands or between the hand and any surface (e.g. ground, own body) or by touching it with any part of the hands or arms, except if the ball rebounds from the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper has made a save

holding the ball in the outstretched open hand

bouncing it on the ground or throwing it in the air

A goalkeeper cannot be challenged by an opponent when in control of the ball with the hand(s).
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Arham
An opponent may not play the ball when it is in the control of the goalkeeper.
Referee Dawson has outlined what the Law means by control of the ball. One context as outlined is where the goalkeeper has his hand on top of the ball on the ground.
The reason for all that is safety. Goalkeeping has special safety risks and opponents trying to kick the ball while in the control of the goalkeeper is not allowed to try to limit those risks.