Question Number: 12598

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/19/2006

RE: Adult

smithy of london, england asks...

just wanted to prove a point to a relative of mine.
my cousin thinks that if a defender passes the ball back to a goal keeper with his feet, the goal keeper can then in turn control the ball with his feet before picking up the ball with his hands.
i assured him that this was a pass back, but he is blindly addament that it is not. please can you confirm that this would indeed be deemed a passback

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

First, there's no such rule as a "passback". The ball may legally be "passed back" to the keeper by all kinds of methods. what you are referring to is if a teammate of the keeper deliberately kicks the ball with his FOOT either directly to the keeper or to an area the keeper may collect the ball, the keeper may not susequently handle the ball. He may NOT as your cousin suggests control the ball with his feet and then pick it up. He may, of course, control it with his feet, he just can't pick it up

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Kicked with the foot of a colleague to the goalkeeper, no hands. Smitty this changed some fifteen years ago. People still argue about it. You win.

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