Marlon Edwards, a coach, asks:
Can you score on your own team from a drop ball?
Red takes a shot on goal and, as the ball is rolling on the ground directly toward the goal with the goalkeeper seriously out of position, a spectator wearing the Blue team colors runs onto the field and kicks the ball away from the goal. What is the restart?
Answer
Two very different questions. The first one can be dealt with fairly quickly. The short answer is, no. The longer, more detailed answer needs to make sure we are talking about the same thing. The dropped ball (DB) is a unique restart in that it is the only one of the 7 ways to start/restart a soccer game which is not performed by a player. Another unique feature is that the ball is in play as soon as it touches the ground. Once we have gotten to the ground-touching point, however, the DB is like the indirect free kick in that a goal cannot be scored in favor of either team directly from the first touch of the ball by any player following the drop. If the ball should happen to enter a goal directly from the initial player contact, the restart is based on which team’s player kicked it into which team’s goal — goal kick if into the goal of the opposing team, corner kick if into the goal of the player’s own team.
What is interesting about this is the word “directly” because, in soccer, it has a very definite meaning and refers to what happens immediately after a player touches/controls the ball or performs a restart. If whatever happens does not involve another player touching the ball, it is said to have occurred “directly.” In the 2016/2017 LOG Law 8, this was restated to be crystal clear: a goal cannot be legally scored unless, prior to entering the goal, the ball was touched by at least two different players. So, we take away several thing from this. First, once the ball has been touched by at least two players, a goal can be legally scored if it enters either team’s goal. Second, the “two player” requirement is met by any two players from either or the same team but not by one player touching the ball twice. This was not a substantive change in the Law, only a restatement for clarification. By the way, if the ball leaves the field after the drop with no touch by any player, the DB is retaken.
On to the second question. The fact that the spectator was wearing “colors” associated with one of the teams whose game he interrupted is irrelevant. Even if he was wearing something like a team jersey and was decked out like a player (but his name is not on the team roster), the person is still only a spectator and we call such persons an “outside agent.” The critical question that has to be answered in any outside agent situation is whether that person interfered with play in any way (made contact with the ball or any player or got in the way of play or a player). If the agent did, play must be stopped and then, after the dust has settled and the outside agent removed, play is restarted with a dropped ball where the ball was when play was stopped. Any goal apparently scored during or following such interference cannot be counted under any circumstances. If the agent did not (in the opinion of the referee), play is not stopped and the entry onto the field is handled at the next stoppage. In the case here, it is obvious that there was interference — play should be stopped as soon as possible and restarted with a DB.
