Question Number: 33720

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/20/2019

RE: Competitive Under 15

Rob of Port Coquitlam, BC Canada asks...

This question is a follow up to question 28847

'deliberate kick to the goalkeeper'

In a recent game, the attacking player tried to make a forward pass in the air, the defending player tried to intercept the pass (a knee high pass which was deflected by the defender's foot).

The deflected pass made it to the goalie in the air, and the keeper played it with the hands.

An indirect free kick was awarded for handling a pass from a team mate.

The term deliberate doesn't appear to be applied by the ref, but rather simply any pass to the keeper ... the last player to touch the ball with the foot was a teammate of the keeper. Even though the team mate didn't initiate contact with the ball and was simply trying to redirect/intercept it.

Does this interpretation of the pass back to the keeper rule seem like a correct interpretation of the rule?

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Bob,
Based on the way you describe it, this does not sound like a ball deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper. It is of course possible that the referee saw it differently and somehow discerned an intent on the part of the defender to direct the ball to their keeper.

However on the face of it, it does seem possible that the referee may have misinterpreted the law here. As ref McHugh alluded to, there was an interpretation being used by the USSF a while back, that seemed to ignore the part of the law that says that the ball must be directed TO the goalie and although that advice has since been discontinued, there may still be some referees who still hew to that incorrect and outdated view of things.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Rob,
sigh the myths continue ! That would be NO !
An INDFK is the right restart for the keeper infraction of illegal handling when a ball that is deliberately kicked with the foot by a team mate to the keeper unfortunately THAT never occurred! The referee requires some thorough schooling in BASIC refereeing protocols that include not awarding INDFK restarts for non existent infringements.

A team mate CAN deliberately pass the ball to their keeper with ANY body part except the foot. It is not illegal handling if the keeper uses their hands on a ball passed to them by a teammate as it is NOT a kick of the foot
The ball must be deliberately kicked with the foot by a team mate to the keeper.
Even when a player contacts the ball & it does find a way into the keeper's hands off a foot
A miss kick does not count,
A deflection does not count,
A challenge for the ball off an opponent does not count

BECAUSE the intent of the player was not to have the keeper handle the ball to save 6 seconds of unchallenged time! He was trying to clear, trying to get out of the way or trying to knock the ball away from an opponent
FIFA & IFAb have even stipulated accidental drops and clearances by the keeper can be reacquired. The whole idea is not to find reasons to stop play for inconsequential trifling or doubtful circumstances.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rob
Simple answer NO. It pains me that this law has got so narrowly applied by some referees based on the fact that any kick is seen as deliberate and therefore an IDFK if the goalkeeper uses his hands. Sure every kick is deliberate which only leaves defections off the foot and those are rare.
As described that should not have been an IDFK and I suppose little if anything can be done about it. It seems to be something that is more prevalent in the US and Canada than anywhere else.
I cannot recall the last one of those I gave or for that matter have seen despite many kicks by defenders that end up with the goalkeeper.
I showed this video on a recent question
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7esEwniKXqQ
Neither of those should have been punished with IDFKs yet they were.
I believe the genesis of this was the so called triangle concept espoused by USSF which included one side being deliberate, the other side a kick of the ball and the third use of the hands. It failed to take account of the key word which is TO the goalkeeper. It did say that it **does not include situations in which the ball has been, in the opinion of the referee, accidentally deflected or misdirected** although misdirected seemed to be ignored?
The current wording says ** it has been deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team-mate** and in fact Law 12 has been amended this year to exclude situations where the goalkeeper has miskicked the ball on a back-pass clearance say up in the air and he subsequently touches the ball with the hands which is not now an offence.
That is tacit support by IFAB of not wanting to punish doubtful situations yet only clear situations where the ball has been kicked to the goalkeeper not a mis-kick, tackle etc
In the two examples we can say that they were deliberate kicks yet not TO the goalkeeper yet for other reasons ended up there. The GK has six seconds to get the ball back into play which addresses the key reason why the law was introduced.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Rob,
The word 'deliberate' has 2 components - it needs to be a deliberate kick, and the keeper needs to have been the intended recipient (whether it's directly to the keeper, or in space for the keeper to reach).

If it is not clear that the keeper was the intended recipient (for instance, the defender was attempting to control or clear the ball but it went in the wrong direction) then this should not be a free kick.

If, however, it is clear that the defender intercepted the ball to try to get it to the keeper, then it's an IFK. It would probably have to be pretty clear for that - usually in cases where it's hard to tell if it was just a backwards clearance or a pass to the keeper the defender will get the benefit of the doubt, but it depends on the situation.

It can be tricky for keepers who sometimes don't know if the ref is considering something to be a deliberate kick to them from a defender. If the keeper has time, he can always ask the referee. Otherwise the keeper will need to make a decision.

In my experience, I've seen more goals come from keepers being so worried about handling the ball from a defender that they kept it at their feet and let it be intercepted by an opponent, than I have from the IFK had they handled and gotten it wrong.