Question Number: 1111

RE: REC Under 15

David Youngs of Irvine, CA USA asks...

After an attack by white on the blue goal, blue cleared the ball out toward midfield. Looking back toward the blue goal, where the goalie was still on the ground, I saw the goalie slap the calf of a white attacker who was still near her. This was not done in a violent manner but more in a frustrated manner. I blew the whistle to stop play and approached the goalie, who stated that the white attacker had kicked her during the play..What is the correct call and restart? PK and yellow card? Or what?

Answer provided by Referee Victor Matheson

First consult your assistant referees to see if they saw anything. If the attacker kicked the goalkeeper, the restart is a direct free-kick from the spot where the goalkeeper was kicked. You have the option to give a yellow card to the attacker the goalkeeper or both. If no one saw the attacker kick the goalkeeper, the correct restart is a penalty kick with a yellow card to the keeper if you wish. What I would do in this situation is a bit strange but will calm the situation and cause the least problems. It also requires a bit of panache on the part of the referee, and I do not recommend this unless you are an experienced referee with a good feel for the game. Even if no one (including me) saw the attacker kick the keeper, I would give a free-kick to the keeper and also give a yellow card to the keeper. Based on what you wrote, I know something had to have happened to the keeper. If I give a PK against the keeper when the keeper was the one who got fouled first, I have committed a great injustice. By giving the keeper a yellow card, I am giving notice that no else should retaliate. I would also tell the keeper that I could have easily given a PK. That keeper now owes me one and will not cause any more problems. I also won't get any flak from the attacking team because I have given a yellow card and it is most likely that the attacker at least bumped the keeper.

Answer provided by Referee stewart

A good answer and interesting method of man-management by Mr Matheson. A difficult one to answer without knowing the full ins and outs of the game and how it was progressing. Stictly by the book, the goalkeeper should be at minimum yellow carded and a penalty kick awarded. As Mr Matheson stated though, it may be a slight injustice if you missed the original misconduct that accounted for the retaliation. It can be a tricky road to follow if you take the word of the goalkeeper. If the slap was but a little tickle I would be inclined to wait a few seconds to see if anything developed or if the attacker just walked away, with no shouts from the sidelines. In that case I may allow the situation to peter out on its own without my interference, and have a quick word with the keeper at the next opportunity so that he knew it was not missed.

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