Law 12 - Fouls & Misconduct

GOALKEEPER MISHANDLES BALL

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Question:
Is the goalie aloud to touch the ball wither by hand or foot after they have attempted to drop kick it out of there defensive area. For example: Goalie picks up the ball attempts to drop kick it but misses the ball completely. Can they pick it up again and kick it if they are inside the area aloud by goalies to handle the ball? Same situation however the ball is outside the handleing area and they kick while its on the ground. Is this goalie mishandling infraction?

2nd situation: Goalie goes to drop kick the ball and just nicks the ball with their foot. Can they play the ball again either by picking it up and drop kicking it again or just by running up to it and kicking it?

Im under the understanding that if a goalie makes a drop kicking motion and nicks or misses the ball they can not play it again. If they do its goalie mishandling and its an indirect free kick for the other team.

USSF answer (May 6, 2009):
If the goalkeeper releases the ball from the hands and kicks it away and it hits the the ground, the ball is in play for everyone and the goalkeeper may not pick it up again until some other player has played it. Correct restart is an indirect for the opposing team from the place where the goalkeeper touched the ball again after releasing it.

On the other hand, the goalkeeper may certainly kick the ball without touching it again with the hands. That has never been an infringement of the Laws.

That said, this sort of thing often occurs among younger and less-skilled players. The referee should use discretion in calling this foul, at least the first time it occurs, during a game with such players. The correct action in that case would be to remind the goalkeeper that he or she may not touch the ball again. We might add at least a brief reminder that, most of the time, this scenario would and should be deemed trifling by the referee and not worth stopping play in order to punish such a violation where no one was impacted.…

Disciplinary Matters

IS IT ALLOWED?

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Question:
If a player is being sent off during the final is he allowed to be part of the ceremony in the final?

USSF answer (May 4, 2009):
Well, as unfair as it may seem, we can find no ruling that would prevent a player sent-off during the tournament final from participating in the award ceremonies following the completion of the game. We suggest checking the rules of the competition to ensure that this is permitted.…

"Inventive Coaches"

OFFSIDE?

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Question:
Picture this! Last minute of play, Team A is losing 2-1 and is awarded a Corner Kick. The keeper from Team A runs up field to participate in the Corner Kick, leaving 1 defender and 1 attacker (Team B) behind. Corner is taken and Team B defense clears the ball all the way to the other half of the field where the lone attacker (B) was next to the defender(A). The AR promptly signals the attacker for Offside as he made a play for the ball. Team B players and Coach of course, were upset with the referee claiming that there should’ve never been a Offside called because the keeper (A) being up field, put the attacker (B) in play-negating any offside.

USSF answer (May 4, 2009):
Another case of “inventive” coaches and players. We all know that a player on the team attacking the opposing team’s goal may be no nearer that goal than either the ball or at least two opposing players to avoid being in an offside position. There is no requirement that the goalkeeper must be one of those two players.

According to your description, there was only a single defender anywhere near the attacking player (Team B), so the attacking player was clearly in an offside position and must be declared offside if he becomes involved by making a play for the ball. Correct decision: Offside for interfering with play.…

"Inventive" Refs

STRANGE DECISION

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Question:
My U14 was playing in the championship game today. On a corner kick by the opposing team one of our defenders handled the ball in the penalty box. As the whistle was blowing, or maybe slightly before, an opposing player kicked the ball into the net. The referee denied the goal, but awarded the team a direct free kick. They missed.

We went on to win the game 1-0. Should the ref have denied the goal or should he have played the advantage?

USSF answer (May 4, 2009):
Play stops when the referee DECIDES that a foul has been committed, not at the moment the whistle actually blows. The referee’s decision to blow the whistle may have been hasty, but once made, it cannot be retracted. Thus the advantage could not then be invoked. The referee’s subsequent decision to deny the goal and award a kick was correct; however, because the foul occurred in the penalty area, the restart should have been a penalty kick, not a direct free kick.…

Advice to Referees

ADVICE TO REFEREES VS. REFEREE PROGRAM DIRECTIVES

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Question:
References to the Advice to Referees frequently appears in your responses to Ask a Soccer Referee. However, in a recent Northern California referee seminar, a senior US Soccer official called the Advice to Referees “archaic”, said he “never reads that stuff,” and that the 2009 Referee Program Directives were “the real world” and should always take precedence over the Advice to Referees. Can you clarify what roles the Advice to Referees and the Referee Program Directives each play?

USSF answer (May 4, 2009):
You may have misunderstood the “senior US Soccer official,” whose comment regarding management of free kicks was that the directives are more current for higher-level referees than the Advice.

The directives have the advantage of being issued on an as-needed basis, while the Advice is published but once a year.

The Advice to Referees is written to give all referees a firm foundation in the Laws of the Game and the way they are applied in officiating soccer. The Advice is entirely up to date and is not in any sense “archaic.” It is basic information aimed particularly at the lower-level referee; by the time a referee reaches the State level and beyond, he or she should have learned all these things for him-/herself.

The Referee Program Directives (and the usssoccer.com Referee Week in Review) are designed to address the issues facing referees at all levels. They highlight specific areas of focus and current U.S. Soccer initiatives designed to improve performance and aid in the development of officials across the country.…

Law 18 - Common Sense

WHEN IS A MATCH OVER?

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Question:
When is a match complete when terminated? Specifically, if 1/2 the match is played, and weather, darkness, etc. require the match to be terminated, is it complete? Or must the second half be started? Can you cite the Law or Paragraph in ATR? I don’t see any.
This has been an argument for many years with fellow referees.
thank you.

USSF answer (May 1, 2009):
You won’t find it in the Laws or in the Advice to Referees for one simple reason: There is nothing there. This situation is governed by the rules of the competition under which the game is played. The FIFA rule for the competitions it sanctions is that the game must be replayed in its entirety. Many competitions required that at least half the game have been played before a game counts as completed. Other competitions have different requirements. Know the rules for every competition in which you officiate.…

Law 11 - Offside

INTERFERING WITH PLAY? NO, WITH AN OPPONENT

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Question:
A few months ago I was refereeing a game and I disallowed a goal for a player being in the offside position. It didn’t have a bearing on the game, thankfully, but reading more and more of the new interpretation and wanting to be as spot on as possible I would like to run the scenario by you.

An attacking player was down on the ground by the goal line and the back post of the goal. The keeper wasn’t concerned with the player and just keep his focus on the play. However the ball was crossed from outside to the top of the penalty area and an attacker struck a shot on goal. The keeper dove for it and the attacker lying on the ground (in an offside position at the time the ball was played by his team) did a little scissor kick to try to help the ball into the goal. He also missed the ball and a goal seemed to be scored.

My AR and I agreed that it would have been fine if he would have just stayed there and made no move to play the ball, but since he made an attempt to play it we disallowed the goal.

After reading the interpretations and comments and advice I think I may have made a wrong call. The player never touched the ball, nor did he interfere with the opponents. If I were to remove that player from the field of play magically, the goal would have been scored. So was my original decision correct or my 2nd guessing myself now? If it depends on the level of play the game was a U18 boys game.

USSF answer (May 1, 2009):
We applaud your effort to stay on top of all the new directives and interpretations, but are uncertain as to why you are having second thoughts in this case. Your initial decision was absolutely correct, although the reason was wrong.

The player in the offside position clearly kicked at the ball that the goalkeeper was attempting to play, thus interfering with an opponent and making himself offside.…

Law 12 - Fouls & Misconduct

GOALKEEPER DRIBBLES, PICKS UP BALL

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Question:
I am a high school coach and last night we had a game were the opposing goalie dribbled the ball back into the box and then picked up the ball with her hands. The ref said that it was a free kick for us, but then changed his mind and gave the team a goal kick. Now I do not know if someone on her team passed the ball back to her or if we shot the ball, but does it matter? According to IHSA RULES, is she allowed to dribble the ball back into the box and pick it up?

USSF answer (April 30, 2009):
Coach, we don’t do high school rules here, but unless your state high school association has some special rule on this matter, the answer is pretty clear: NFHS rules on this are the same as the Laws of the Game.  If the ball came from a deliberate kick by a teammate, indirect free kick for the opposing team where the goalkeeper handled the ball (it is still directly following the kick by the teammate, despite the goalkeeper dribbling the ball before picking it up).  If it did not come from a teammate or if the teammate’s contact was not a deliberate kick, then there is no offense at all.  Under no circumstances or variations in the scenario could the referee correctly give a goal kick.…

"Inventive" Refs

“ILLEGAL” GOALKEEPER CHANGE

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Question:
there was keeper change during the game. he did sub in during a throw in but did not acknowledge me about the goalie change.

During the game the opposing team scores 2 goals on this goalie where the this goalie never touched the ball with his hands. finally this goalie touched the ball with his hands, I called a hand ball and penalty kick because he had not told me offically about the goalie change. What is the correct call? Or was I correct?

USSF answer (April 30, 2009):
Let us ponder this: You were fully aware of the change when it happened and did nothing about it. Now you want to punish the new goalkeeper for handling the ball. You allowed the new goalkeeper to play for much of the game and did nothing.

Would you have punished the goalkeeper if he had touched the ball on its way into the goal for the two scores that occurred before you took action? If so, that would have denied the opposing team whichever of those goals you took away.

What you should have done was to be proactive and ask the captain or the new goalkeeper if he wanted to tell you about a substitution. And you should have done that right away. We do not play power games with the players. It is their game, not ours. Help them play correctly.

The failure to notify the referee — if indeed there was a failure — is clearly a minor issue and you should only have reminded the new goalkeeper about the requirement.  But all referees need to understand that under NO circumstances can this goalkeeper be penalized for handling the ball illegally.  The strongest action the referee can take is to caution the ‘keeper at the next stoppage of play (but only the stoppage that occurs directly following the goalkeeper’s appearance on the field) — if the referee allows this opportunity to pass then he can’t even do that!

Our feeling is that this was a simple substitution during which someone forgot to say the magic words to you.  When you allowed the substitution and whistled for the restart of play with player X now wearing a distinctive goalkeeper jersey, due notice was given to and acknowledged by you.…

"Inventive" Refs

STRIKING/CHARGING OPPONENT

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Question:
Situation inside six yard box, forward driving towards goal was cut off by defense and attempted to turn out and back , a defender CHARGED into her from behind then in a continuous motion and gave a 2-handed shove,straight out with enough force to knock her down. She was struck from behind at shoulder blade height and with enough force to send her flying over the ball and to the ground! No foul was called and Ref said it was Legal.??? I say Law 12 was broke?

USSF answer (April 30, 2009):
Coach, provided that the situation was precisely as you describe it, the defender should have been sent off for violent conduct — or for serious foul play if the referee believed that the defender was challenging for the ball, which doesn’t sound likely in this case. Penalty kick restart.…