Question Number: 16386

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/21/2007

RE: Competitive Girls Under 19

Steve of Vero Beach, FL USA asks...

Protection of GK vs. Attacker right to play the ball.

Attacker comes in full barrel in pursuit of a lobbed pass over the defense. GK goes to ground and is fully stretched out on the ground when she covers the ball. Attacker gets to the spot just as the GK covers the ball. In her attempt to avoid contact, the attacker steps over the GK. It appears that the trailing foot of the attacker may have grazed the head of the GK.

GK immediately pops up to her knees and rolls the ball out to a teammate near the touchline. Teammate looses ball out of play. Upon releasing the ball, the GK goes back down to ground. This all happens within 2-3 seconds.

This play happened in the right upper corner of the PA. I was at the top of the Penalty arch heading toward the play. I could not initially determine whether contact had been made. When GK went back down, I immediately blew the whistle to stop play (ball was already over the touchline) and beckoned the coach to come out (possible head injury).

Before the coach arrived, GK was on her feet and walking back to goal. Coach asked her if she was o.k., she said yes and we continued with a throw-in when the coach retreated. While the coach was there, I asked my AR (very experienced referee) what he saw and he could not say, but stated the restart was now a throw in to attackers.

I still question my first reaction. If I even suspect that contact to the head might have been made to a player who is on the ground, should I not stop play immediately? If I do stop play in this situation (prior to the GK playing the ball out), should I restart with a dropped ball or a DFK to the defense? Dropped ball due to stoppage for injury or DFK due to kicking foul that "caused" the injury.

More experienced referees have told me that I should have stopped play immediately and minimally called a DFK for kicking. One said he would Caution and show a yellow card. The Caution seems harsh, since I did not definitively see the contact and the GK's immediate reaction was to keep playing.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

First things first. Injuries can happen with or without a foul. If there is a foul, then you restart with a free kick. If no foul and you stop play, then you restart with a dropped ball. If by the time you make your decision that there was an injury, the ball has gone out of play, you restart for that (e.g. throw-in).

One thing that you did not mention, that you might consider, was whether or not the goalkeeper was embellishing. That's very hard to tell with head contact. I remember back in elementary school that I got hit by a softball in the head, as I was racing for home. I managed to stay up to make sure I touched the plate before falling over. (Deprived childhood - we didn't even know what soccer was!)

The fact that the keeper distributed the ball weakly doesn't mean that she was or was not hurt. However the cynic might see her as being unhappy with the way the ball went, and that she then went back down to stop the play. I'm just sayin' ...

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Steve, if you were dealing with U-littles, absolutely stop the game if you ever even suspect there has been a collision involving a head injury. If there isn't, you can always restart with a dropped ball. At the U19 Girls competitive, I would watch and wait briefly unless it was abundantly clear the player needed immediate attention. As soon as the ball went out in this case, I'd have gone over to the GK and checked on her, asked her some silly questions, make her laugh, etc. If the ball hadn't gone out, I'd have run by her and done the same. If at that point she appears to need assistance, I can and will stop play and summon the coach, trainer, or other appropriate personnel to see to her - and the restart is a dropped ball. From your description, it doesn't sound like a DFK offense occurred - any kicking was probably accidental and need not be punished. However, you could be forgiven for doing it anyway - the other team will understand and know you would do the same for their own keeper, especially if you had ANY doubt as to the intention of the attacker - it sends a message that you will not tolerate such antics. If, and only if, you are certain the dragged foot was deliberate, reckless behavior meant to intimidate or possibly injure the keeper, would you go to a caution for the scenario you noted above. It could easily move to a send off, of course, but your scenario didn't pose that possibility. Restart if you decide there was a kicking offense, with or without the caution, is a DFK. Hope that helps.