Question Number: 15364

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/3/2007

RE: Adult

Lyn Nielsen of Sydney, NSW Australia asks...

A goalkeeper catches the ball and controls it. He then drops it and dribles it outside his penaly area then dribbles it back into his penalty area. He then picks it up and kicks it downfield.

I'm pretty sure this is punishable by an indirect free kick to the attacking team.

Pretty sure is not good enough. Can you help?

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You are correct!!!!! Once he relinquishes control from his hands, he may not legally handle it again until it touches another player.

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Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Correct! If keeper releases ball, then he must wait until ball touches another player before he handles it deliberatly again.

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Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

You are correct. It's right in the text of Law 12, talking about the goalkeeper: "touches the ball again with his hands after it has been released from his possession and has not touched any other player." Since dribbling about by himself doesn't involve any other player, the keeper can't pick up the ball again.

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