Question Number: 34029

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/19/2020

RE: 4 Adult

James McLeish of BARROW IN FURNESS, United Kingdom asks...

Hi,in a recent game the goalkeeper punched an opponent in his area after the ball had gone, I sent the goalkeeper off and awarded a penalty, was I correct?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi James
Absolutely 100% correct.
The goalkeeper was guilty of violent conduct which is a red card offence. As the offence happened inside the penalty area with the ball in play the restart is a penalty kick.
Many times if a referee does not have neutral assistants it can be a good spot to see VC when play transitions away from the penalty area after following the ball.
It can always be a good idea to dwell on situations where there might be potential for *afters* where a player takes exception to a challenge etc.
When play transitions it can always be worthwhile to glance back to see if anything untoward is occurring. Sometimes a referee will anticipate that all s not well between players which can result in all sorts of misconduct.
Missing VC is always a problem for a referee on his own. Unfortunately if a referee does not see it he cannot deal with it properly.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi James,
If the ball was still in play (not in touch) and the keeper loses his composure committing a violent act such as you describe while within his own penalty area. The referee would be obliged to stop play , the keeper would be shown the red card and sent off reducing his team by a player. Given this was an occurrence during active play, the match would be restarted with a penalty kick for the DFK offence of striking an opponent within his own penalty area. Your actions were correct according to the LOTG but you MIGHT want to consider what precipitated such a reaction? I would confer with the AR and think a bit about what I might have missed that triggered such a violent reaction? Was it retaliation for something I might have dealt with better had I noticed it earlier? This doesn't mean you do not card and send off or restart with the PK, the keeper MUST retain his composure no matter how irritated he might be. I only mention it because it is prudent to reflect on the management of the match to that point given it had such a heavy impact on the game. There is no guarantee but a preventative or proactive approach to the lead up situation, (assuming there was one) might have calmed the situation down?
Cheers