Question Number: 15968

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 7/7/2007

RE: Competitive Under 17

Bryan of Naperville, IL usa asks...

If a ball is played over the top into the box by the opposing team can the goalie use his or her hands to trap it(without catching it) play the ball with your feet then pick it up when put under pressure, i saw this happen in a chicago fire game and i was wondering if this was legal.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If the goalkeeper parries the ball, she can no longer play it with her hands until it is touched by another player (of either team). Parrying is when the keeper has the ability to hold onto the ball, but chooses to bat it down to the ground instead. It is different than a save, where the keeper can only manage to block the ball away from the net without establishing any control. It is in the opinion of the referee as to whether the ball could have been controlled or not.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Bryan,
If in the opinion of the referee the parry has a hand touch, controlled possession and release back into active play at one single touch of the ball then the keeper can not reuse the hands to pick the ball up. It is rare because the 6 second law revision took out the need to worry about positioning the ball when 4 steps was in place. In the game if the referee allowed the keeper to pick the ball up then he did not consider the block as a parry but as a knock down. As an opinion of a fact of play it is uncontestable even if you might have disagreed. Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Hey Bryan. If the referee feels the trapping with his hands amounted to control and possession, once the keeper releases the ball from this trap he may not handle the ball again until it touches another player. From your description, this soulnd like control to me. My fellow referees describe what a parry is. Unfortunately, many keepers believe the parry does NOT constitute control and many referees refuse to call it.