John, an adult amateur player/referee, asks:
I supervise in an 8 v. 8 league with no offsides. Otherwise, all rules follow the laws of the game. In one game I was observing, Team A was taking a direct kick. A player from Team A was instructed to stand immediately in front of the Team B’s keeper to impede his vision (his team literally told him to stand in front of the keeper), occasionally raising his arms to make himself bigger/constantly checking over his shoulder and adjusting to ensure he was blocking the keeper’s vision. They did this for nearly every kick and the official afterwards asked how I would have handled. For one kick, there was a clear impeding that prevented the keeper from playing the ball, so the ref whistled the obstruction, but from a game management, it started to get chippy and seemed like a problem I’d have preferred to nip in the bud (either with an unsporting behavior stoppage or required distance) before the inevitable elbows and shoves and dives happen.
Of course, the quick remedy is to clarify this rule in our league, but wanted to get your take. I’m pushing for unsporting behavior because it is a safety of play issue (keeper being unable to see) for us. We have 11s as well, but typically offsides takes care of this issue (except on a corner or direct kick down the line.
Answer
What you describe is and has always been considered to be interference with the goalkeeper, It is poor sportsmanship and, though it does not appear explicitly in the Laws of the Game, this situation is generally met in either or both of the following actions.
The referee should be on close alert anytime the goalkeeper has the ball, is in a possible situation to gain possession of the ball, or is in the process of initiating release of the ball. The referee should be in a good position to monitor potential interference by one or more opponents who are clearly interfering with or blocking the position of the goalkeeper and/or the goalkeeper’s release of the ball and/or positioning to clearly attempt to gain possession of the ball. One of the most typical scenarios is at a corner kick and the goalkeeper is attempting to place him/her self to protect against a goal.
In a corner kick situation of this sort, it is almost certain that one or more opponents will attempt to arrange themselves to block the goalkeeper’s ability to defend. In such situations, it is recommended that the goalkeeper be protected from such close interference by talking to the opponents or, in more serious cases, formally ordering the corner kick to be delayed (and only restarted upon approval of the referee) until the appropriate space is achieved around the goalkeeper. Of course, there must not be any direct physical contact with the goalkeeper.
If needed, the referee has the ultimate authority to caution any opponent who has failed to follow the referee’s space requirements or who rushes into blocking the goalkeeper’s space just as or after the kick is taken. In short, the Law implicitly requires that opposing players have no right under any circumstances to be so close to a goalkeeper who is placed to receive the ball, has received the ball, or is in the process of releasing the ball.
The referee needs to monitor closely situations where one or more opponents are too close to the goalkeeper, to advise players who are clearly moving closer to the goalkeeper or hindering her/his movements, to watch carefully any opponents who appear to be charging a goalkeeper who is in the process of receiving the ball, or to charge with such speed toward a goalkeeper that it is obvious there will be a collision.
The younger the players, the more carefully these issues must be monitored and quickly resolved.
