Question Number: 23145

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/19/2010

RE: Under 10

Jared of Greenville, TX USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 17214

I saw a goalie in a U10 rec game attempt to punt a ball into play and she missed the ball. When she went to pick it back up, the referee whistled a penalty. Indirect, about 10 feet (yes feet) from the goal, and backed the wall up to the goal line. Would you have made this call, or simply allowed play to continue? Is either decision a rule or grey area??

Also, what if she would have punted the ball straight up and it bounces once or twice? Would you allow her to catch it and retry with out penalty??

Thank you!!

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jared
What has happened here is that the goalkeeper has infringed Law 12 by touching the ball with her hands after releasing the ball (missed punt) from her hands. The restart is an indirect free kick from where the GK touched the ball with her hands and the defending team has to retreat 10 yards from the ball for the IDFK or in this case back to the goal line.
As the offence happened inside the goal area the IDFK should have been taken on the goal area line parallel to the goal line at the point nearest to where the infringement occurred. That is what the Law states so it is not a grey area.
At U10 the referee may exercise some discretion and simply ignore the infraction and allow play to continue. The game at this level is meant to be a learning experience and fun. That can only be done with the agreement of both teams and its coaches. When one brings adult laws to what should be a fun game this is what results. If the referee does not 'administer' the Laws then the adults present can and do suggest a lack of fairness, bias, poor judgment etc. I would much prefer that these games were played with as little adult interference as possible and that incidents like this are seen as trifling infractions that should not be punished. .

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Under the strict letter of the law (see below), a goal keeper who voluntarily releases possession of the ball may not touch the ball with the hands. It is a indirect free kick foul. A ball thrown in the air and then touching the ground is considered a voluntary release; although by tradition, dribbling the ball is not considered a voluntary release.

IMO, however, in younger or less-skilled age group, any infringement likely is doubful or trifling and may be ignored. The purpose of the rule is to prevent keepers from abusing their right to hold the ball unfettered for six seconds to delay or prevent the opponents from a fair opportunity to play the ball. Here, the keeper is trying to get the ball put back into play quickly and would have but for the whistle.

Many referees would distinguish between the player who misses the ball entirely from those who miskick it. I would not, and would punish only deliberate breaches at this age and skill level.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

A goalkeeper is allowed to bounce the ball and still retain possession. Could this missed punt be viewed as a bounce? Then the ref would call nothing.

Else, the ref could decide the offense was trifling, and still call nothing. And have a word to the keeper at an opportune moment to warn her that other refs might not be so kind; she should be prepared to kick the ball away if she misses her punt.

The straight-up punt and re-handling is also a second-touch offense, but again the ref will need to evaluate the necessity of calling it.

Note that at U10 the players are learning. So too are the referees. Until refs get some experience, they cannot be expected to differentiate between infractions that should be called and those that should not. So calling the second-touch on this goalkeeper would be expected from most refs who work at the U10 level.

Any indirect free kick going inbound should be taken no closer than the edge of the goal area. If the infraction was inside the goal area, the ball would be moved back to the '6 yard line' - whatever that distance is on the undersized U10 field. I've seen some very small goal areas out there; 10 feet would not be unexpected. The fact that the referee knew enough that all defenders had to be on the goal line suggests to me that he would also know where to place the ball.