Question Number: 15265

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/24/2007

RE: Select Under 11

Mark Shewhart of Spring Valley, Ohio USA asks...

If a player (not goalie) commits a handball in the box (not in the goal) of the goal they are defending, AFTER which the ball rolls into the goal without any other player touching it, what happens? Is this a goal or is a penalty kick awarded.

That is, does play end immediately after a hand ball penality?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

We don't have boxes on the field, we have penalty areas.

If the referee has enough presence of mind to wait a moment and evaluate the possibility of advantage, she will allow the ball to go into the goal before blowing her whistle. The goal counts, and the player that handled the ball in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the goal should be cautioned.

If the referee is too quick on her whistle, she has no choice. She has stopped play, and the fact that the ball ended up in the net a fraction of a second later is just too bad. She has to send off the player for denying a goal by handling the ball, and then restart with a penalty kick.

Not that it hasn't happened to anyone on the panel ... Boy was I glad when they converted the PK!

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hi Mark. First some terminology. No such thing as a handball. The foul is deliberately handling the ball. Second, shoes come in boxes. There are no boxes on a soccer field. If a defender, other than the goalkeeper, deliberately handles the ball inside his own penalty area and denies an obvious goal or goal scoring opportunity by doing so, that player is shown the red card and sent off. The restart is a penalty kick. But.... the wise referee would follow Law 5 and wait a second or 2 to see if the ball went into the net. If it did, then no goal would be denied so the player would only be cautioned for unsporting behavior and shown the yellow card. The restart is a kick off for the defenders. Unfortunately, far too many referees blow their whistle at ANY handling and at that point the play has stopped. This is unfortunate as the single most advantageous thing in soccer is a goal and by a quck whistle, the referee has denied it. If the whistle is blown, the restart is a penalty kick after the player is sent off.