Question Number: 17462

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/22/2007

RE: JV High School

jill of waterville, ny usa asks...

If the defender turns to see ball kicked by his teammate, and is hit on the hand and chest by the ball in the box, and the ball is deflected out of bounds at the end, should it be called a corner kick or a penalty kick for a handball in the box?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Jill ,
the FOUL of "handles the ball deliberately" requires the referee to be of the opinion that the player used his arm/hand to deliberately control/play that ball unfairly. If the ball simply struck the arm/hand then it is not a deliberate action, it is not a foul.

If a player turns and is struck by the ball I could see it as not a deliberate action to play the ball but in fact a sneaky mean spirited ball jumping into his arm to create this myth that parents and fans want to see a PK for a nonexistant foul.

The ball hits the arm, the finger, the elbow, the wrist or the ball hits the butt, the calf, the back the shin, the back of the neck, the front of the chest or the right off the tip of the nose or ear. These are just a multitude of body parts and play goes on!

Most probably, but I would need to see it to be sure, we have a corner kick restart but if it was awarded as a PK then the referee must see that action as deliberate. People can accidently move into a ball but react deliberately to push that ball away as always it remains the opinion of the referee. His match. His decision. His reputation!
Cheers
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Steve Montanino

Did the defender deliberately handle the ball or not? If they did, it's a penalty, if they didn't it's a corner kick.

Typically, protecting one's body from a very hard and fast moving ball is not considered deliberately handling the ball. However, there are always exceptional cases, there is no hard and fast rule other than what I listed above.

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Hit on the hand and chest and deflected someplace indicate no deliberate action on the part of the player. For a handles the ball deliberately infraction the referee must have it in mind the player actually did use his hand or arm deliberately to play the ball. If referees would never blow for "Handball" they would be correct about 90% of the time. That's better than we usually see referees perform in judging this infraction.

So in the case you mention play would continue or stop based on the ball crossing a field boundary.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The ball deflected off a part of the defenders body that happened to be the hand. Nothing deliberate here. Award the corner kick.