LAW 12 --- Laws of the Game
An indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a goalkeeper, inside his own penalty area, commits any of the following four offenses:
• touches the ball with his hands after it has been deliberately kicked to him by a team-mate
I wanted to clarify the application of this part of Law 12 for everyone.........
The word here that is commonly misunderstood and mis-applied is deliberate.
Deliberate refers to the fact that the player kicking the ball ACTED (deliberately) kicked the ball, as opposed to the ball merely glancing off the player's leg caused by some other player's action.
Deliberate does NOT refer to whether the player who kicked the ball meant to or intended to kick the ball TO THE GOALKEEPER.
Consider these two scenarios:
1. RED attacking BLUE. RED kicks the ball toward BLUE's goal, but the ball glances off BLUE defender's foot, and goes to BLUE's goalkeeper. The goalkeeper picks up the ball within his own penalty area.
2. RED attacking BLUE. RED kicks the ball toward BLUE's goal. BLUE defender intercepts the ball but is confronted quickly by RED. BLUE turns with the ball, facing his own goal, and kicks the ball toward three teammates, two fullbacks and his own goalkeeper. The fullbacks let the ball pass them and it rolls to the goalkeeper, who picks it up in his own penalty area.
In scenario #1, there is NO offense by the goalkeeper as the defender did NOT deliberately kick the ball. The ball merely glanced off his foot, directed from another player's action.
In scenario #2, the referee should stop play with the whistle and award an IFK to the RED team at the point the goalkeeper picked up the ball with his hands in his own penalty area.
Explanation. There is no way the referee could read the intent of the kicker, whether he meant to kick the ball to the goalkeeper or another teammate, and the referee does not need to read such intent. The violation is on the part of the goalkeeper. Since the goalkeeper's teammate purposely, intentionally, deliberately KICKED the ball (struck it with his foot), then the prohibition is on the goalkeeper to refrain from handling the ball directly from this kick. The goalkeeper has the ability to play the ball in any manner at this point, other than using his hands.
Similarly, if the ball came from his teammate in any other way other than kicked (struck with the foot), the goalkeeper could handle the ball in his own penalty area without infringing the law, e.g. from the knee, head, thigh, chest, etc.
Here's an explanation from Advice to Referees
12.20 BALL KICKED TO THE GOALKEEPER
A goalkeeper infringes Law 12 if he or she touches the ball with the hands directly after it has been deliberately kicked to him or her by a teammate. The requirement that the ball be kicked means only that it has been played with the foot. The requirement that the ball be "kicked to" the goalkeeper means only that the play is to or toward a place where the ‘keeper can legally handle the ball. The requirement that the ball be "deliberately kicked" means that the play on the ball is deliberate and does not include situations in which the ball has been, in the opinion of the referee, accidentally deflected or misdirected.
One caveat, the player who sends the ball to the goalkeeper canNOT circumvent the Law by juggling the ball from his foot to some other part of his body and touch it to the goalkeeper. In doing so, the player passing the ball has committed misconduct for unsporting behavior, and play should be stopped to caution the player, regardless of whether the goalkeeper handles the ball. Again, the caution would go to the player passing the ball, not to the goalkeeper. The restart would be an IFK from the place where the passing player circumvented the law.
Here's the reference from Advice to Referees --- 12.28.1 12th bullet
• Engages in trickery to circumvent the goalkeeper's limitation on handling the ball played from a teammate's foot (the defender who initiates the "trickery" is cautioned, the decision does not require that the goalkeeper actually handles the ball, and the misconduct can occur during dynamic play or at a restart).I hope this explanation clarifies things for coaches, referees, and players
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11 comments:
Great idea! Great visuals.
And if the ball is deliberately kicked by a teammate to an area outside the PA - and the goalkeeper dribbles the ball back into the PA and then handles the ball - is this always a violation?
Anonymous: Yes, that would still be an infringment. Since the ball was deliberately kicked by his teammate, the GK cannot handle the ball in the penalty area, even if he dribbles it into the area first. GK may play the ball as any other player at that point.
PV
1. Though this may be the accepted interpretation of the intent of the rule, the wording of the rule does not lend itself to such an interpretation. Advice to Referees reads the phrase "to him" right out of the rule. "Kicked to him" does not mean "kicked to someplace he can get to." I think the advice to referees and the interpretation of this rule are wrong, and one will have to be rewritten. What's more, I predict it will happen within one year from now. I predict the words "to him" will be removed from the rule.
2. Advice to Referees does not contemplate your answer, Paul, where a keeper infringes who finds the ball outside the penalty area and dribbles it back in before picking it up.
3. I don't see the difference between heading a ball back to the keeper and juggling it up from the feet to head it back.
Paul's interpretation is consistent with the exact wording of section 12.20 of Advice to Referees on the Laws of the Game, under Note a:"...or to a place the goalkeeper can easily play it".
Although barely mentioned, it seems clear.
Excellent discussion referees. Adam, Esq., you make some good points and your prediction may come true.
Now, let me point you all to the USSF Memo, written May 2008, which says in part:
The offense rests on three events occurring in the following sequence:
• The ball is kicked (played with the foot) by a teammate of the goalkeeper,
• This action is deemed to be deliberate rather than a deflection, and
• The goalkeeper handles the ball directly (no intervening touch of play of
the ball by anyone else)
When, in the opinion of the referee, these three conditions are met, the violation has
occurred. It is not necessary for the ball to be "passed," it is not necessary for the ball to
go "back," and it is not necessary for the deliberate play by the teammate to be "to" the
goalkeeper.
I've linked the memo to the blog and this posting.
I need to address Adam's comment on "circumventing the law." When the IFK fouls were added in 1992 to eliminate delaying the game, FIFA anticipated players who might get around the "passback" rule by juggling the ball to the chest, head, etc, so they made it an element of unsporting behavior to do so.
Forget about all this elaboration. All you need to do is to ask the coach about the player's intentions as you jog by, and he or she will let you know if the player intended to kick the ball back to the keeper or not. Armed with that info, you decide which call to make...
Mike, is that on the Advance test?
On a serious note, how often in starting to clear the ball from the PA does the fullback after dribbling the ball a few feet, suddenly decide to leave the ball for the GK to pick up? An infringment?
For Andrew:
Your scenario does not happen very often, but if a player were to "kick the ball" and apparently leave fot the GK to come handle it, that would be considered an infringement. The GK's option would be to play it as anyother player, but NOT with his hands in his own PA.
I needed to handle this situation from a dropped ball. Play was at mid-field. Blue won the dropped ball and turned and kicked the ball all the way back to the GK. At the point the GK picked up the ball, I awarded the IFK. Lots of complaints from the GK's side, so Law is still not well publicized at the coaches level.
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