Question Number: 35679

Mechanics 8/30/2024

Crebs Crem of Zagreb , Croatia asks...

Hello,

A ball is crossed into the penalty area and the defender put the ball into his/her own net although no opponents were near him/her. According to VAR protocol, does this action of defender reset the APP (attacking phase of play)?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Crebs,
uncertain why that would be of interest? An attacker can have the ball deflect or rebound off him just as easily as he diligently tries to clear as in a save and mistakenly direct it in? The goal counts as long as no PIOP interfered with his ability to play that ball and NO PIOP had played the shot he accidently redirected into his goal . In a goal, its a kick off restart, so everything is reset. When a defender makes a deliberate save it does not reset the restriction of any opposing PIOP(s).
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Crebs,
Like my colleague ref Dawson, I'm struggling a little to see the rationale behind this question. If all that happens is that a defender turns a cross into their own net with no opponent nearby, then VAR would not be involved and the question of APP would not arise.

Maybe there's some other info or detail that is missing from your question?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Crebs
This action will not reset the attacking phase of play.

If there is a clear and obvious error in the build up to the goal VAR will review the footage and advise the referee accordingly either by a decision such as ball out of play or offside or ask the referee to go to the monitor.
If it is confirmed that there was an offence in the build up the own goal does not change anything and it is not a reset. If there is no offence such as offside then the goal stands.

The following are not considered a clear gain of possession:
# a save, deflection or rebound that does not result in control of the ball
# a clearance that does not reach or is not controlled by a teammate

It will require the VAR and referee to adopt a *what would football expect?* approach and apply the principles and their knowledge and experience to make a decision. If the attacking team has committed an offence in the build up to a goal then it would be expected that the goal would be ruled out after review. That is the whole basis of VAR.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 35680