Question Number: 15650

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/30/2007

RE: Competetive Under 18

Brian Sniatkowski of Kinnelon, NJ USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 15625

OK, It's established that the ref blowing the whistle stops play and demands a restart. [15625]

How SHOULD the situation be handled though?

To recap, keeper goes into the air for a ball. As he comes down offensive player runs into him and knocks keeper (who is holding the ball) into the goal.

Say the foul isn't egregious, but accidental in that the offensive player tried to but couldn't stop his forward momentum in time.

Should the ref blow the whistle, requiring a IFK or DFK inside the 6 or play on and allow the GK to punt the ball?

If it's "play on", how should he signal that there is a foul and no goal, as fans, some players and coaches might not have seen the foul, but only the ball go into the goal?

Considering that a punt from the 18 is likely to go farther than a kick from the 6
(in youth soccer this is more an issue than
with adults), should the offending team be allowed benefit from the foul by requiring a kick from the 6?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Accidentally pushing an opponent is not a foul! Play continues and if a goal is the result, so be it. If the referee blows the whistle he must restart play in accordance with the reason he stopped play, pushes is a direct free kick offence so the free kick is direct and form the goal area. If the referee inadvertently blows the whistle the correct restart of play is, according to Law 8, a dropped ball from the long line of the goal area at the point nearest where the ball was at the inadvertent stoppage. There can be NO OTHER restart made up here. It can NEVER be "play on" because that signifies the referee has seen foul play that by him stopping things the attack will be disadvantaged, the attack in this case is the goalkeeper in possession of the ball. It is surely not an advantage to stumble into the goal whilst holding the ball so a stoppage in play is better than playing advantage. The signal for a foul and no goal is the whistle sounding and a free kick being awarded to the defence! A goal is signaled by play stopping and a kick-off taken by the defence.

It makes no difference whether or not the fans, some players and coaches might not have seen the foul because the referee did and he awarded a free kick. If the fans, some players and coaches might not have seen the foul they should consider paying closer attention.

The referee in this case committed an error in his application of Law thus complication things fans, some players and coaches might have learned in the past. He has done no good for the match and certainly no good for The Game.

A note, because the players are U-18 it seems unlikely anyone would not be able to kick the ball 12 yards so offering a free kick, instead of a goal, to be taken from the goal area is not the detriment it may be to U-8's on a full size field. Main point is the keeper can NEVER restart play from his hands unless he is taking a throw-in for his side.

The fans, some players and coaches might be well advised to read Law 10 - The Method of Scoring and find it says this: A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no infringement of the Laws of the Game has been committed previously by the team scoring the goal. If the whistle sounds there has been an infringement so there can be NO goal. It's a simple Game.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Brian,
if the contact was unavoidable and the referee sees it as no foul then he awards the goal. But usually ANY contact on a keeper once he has ball possession with his hands is is likely a foul. If the keeper is rammed, joustled, knocked or simply falls over and carries the ball COMPLETELY over the goalline it is a goal UNLESS there was an infringment seen by the referee. Likely a jump , charge or push. A referee cannot in law allow play to continue once this occurs. The restart is either a kick off or a DFK out. INDFKs like PIADM or impeding have no physical contact in them.

Retailation is alway a possibility as free runs at the keeper are not well recieved by either team. It is important to halt this possibility which is why we rarely overlook the bump as trivial or doubtful. In this case with a ball over the goal line certainly not possible to do so!

There are some gentle contact or bumps that can be waved up if no goal has occured with simple, Advantage play on! if the foul was careless at best. If the keeper is say helped to his feet bythe player with a sorry mate, so no one is truly upset. A friendly warning to be careful and off we go with the ball in the keeper's hand as you seem to prefer.

A keeper is not permitted to restart with a ball in his hands although if we stop play for say a possible injury to the keeper he could recieve the ball from a drop ball restart .

The fact that a keeper can punt a ball better than he can kick could only be considered if the foul was accepted as fairplay by the players thus could be overlooked as trivial or doubtful.
If advantage is used and the possibility of retailation is negligable and we are talking only a minor bump not a goal or a cautionable or send off event. But a stern word to the transgessor should be followed up.
Practical man management requires a referee to consider the situation in context but he cannot ALTER the laws just so a keeper can punt the ball!

FIFA Q&A LAW 12
Question 29. A player challenging for the ball makes contact with the opposing goalkeeper, who is within his own goal area.
Challenging for the ball is permitted. A player would be only penalised if the challenge was a jump at the goalkeeper, a charge or a push on the goalkeeper, which was careless, reckless or using excessive force.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

We completely understand the dilemma that a free kick at the 6 may not be as beneficial as the goalkeeper being allowed to punt. In normal situations, we may be inclined to not stop play when an opponent bumps the goalkeeper unless the ball comes loose. That would allow him to recover and run up toward the 18-yard line to punt.

This isn't one of those normal situations, because the bump was enough to push the goalkeeper with the ball across the line - and we presume by a far enough margin that the ball is clearly over the line (else you could fudge it and say "No Goal, Keep Playing"). If the referee does not wish to stop play for the bump, then he's left with what happened next - the ball crossed the goal line, under the crossbar and between the goal posts.

You say, "the foul isn't egregious, but accidental" - but was it a deliberate action of the player that caused the bump to happen? Not being able to stop in time sounds like a careless action to me - call the foul and disallow the goal. The restart may not be the best of all possible worlds, but it's sure better than having a goal scored against you.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

If you "play on" it's a goal because all of the ball crossed all of the line and scored in accordance with Law 10 so you cannot simply allow play to continue and verbally say it's a foul. You have to decide on the spot if it's a foul. If it is then you decide what kind and what the restart is. If you decide no foul, you award a goal.