Answers to Soccer Laws of the Game and Practical Soccer Refereeing Questions
Pass Back Rule
Question:
Defender has the ball, passes it back to the goalie, offense player, from opposing team, attempts to intercept the ball, can the goalie pick up the ball?
USSF answer (September 8, 2009):
No. In other words, if the goalkeeper picks up the ball in this situation, he or she is punished for handling the ball deliberately kicked to him or her by a teammate.…
Question:
Defense player (A) standing mid way between half field and the penalty arc, lobs a ball in the air back towards his own goal. Defense player (B) is standing in the penalty arc. There is multiply players from both team between Player A and B. Player (B) in the penalty arc decides to head the ball back to his keeper who picks it up.
The referee in this game called trickery to the pass back rule as he perceived that the original intent of player A was a pass back to the goalkeeper and that player B header was trickery to by step the law and allow the keeper to pick up the ball. He awarded a free kick just outside the 6 yard box.
Was he correct?
USSF answer (January 28, 2009):
It is not against the Law to head the ball to one’s own ‘keeper in this situation.…
Question:
‘Deliberate pass-back’
I was watching the EPL Arsenal v Aston Villa game recently and saw what I thought was a questionable non-call. Arsenal defender Sagna cleared a ball off the goal-line that was headed into net had he not intervened. He cleared by doing a ‘semi-bicycle’ kick and just managed to keep it out. However, the clearance went straight to his beaten keeper, Almunia, who was positioned at about 6-8 yards off his line. Almunia caught it and then punted it out.
According to USSF memo, this is to be considered a deliberate kick to him, as it was most certainly deliberate intervention but not necessarily played directly to keeper. The sanction would therefore be an IDK.
Is USSF differing in their interpretation of ‘to him’ from FIFA in this regard or did the referee perhaps somehow consider this a misdirection, which IMO would be questionable, or even perhaps a trifling offense, which seems even less so? The keeper in this instance would have clearly been under pressure from attackers had he not caught it. Seems like ref let this one slide a bit too easily.
USSF answer (December 30, 2008):
Aha! While watching the game we knew we would get a question on this. We cannot read the referee’s mind, no more than we can read the player’s mind. However, the ball was clearly not meant for the goalkeeper and the referee applied Law 18, Common Sense, to this situation. The offense, if any, was extremely doubtful.…
ANNOUNCEMENT:
We get so many queries on this topic that I am putting up this stock answer on the deliberate kick by a player to his goalkeeper. Several of the items have been abridged to make the entire item more readable. I hope it is helpful.
1. The first item displayed is the information found on US Soccer website at the URL below. There is other useful information at that URL as well.
The answer to this and many other questions can be found in the USSF’s FAQ for new referees:
ttp://www.ussoccer.com/referees/refdev/faq.jsp.html
The answer to your question is in these Q&As:
Q. If a player deliberately kicks the ball to his goalie, who is outside the penalty area, may the goalie dribble the ball back into the penalty area and pick it up with his hands?
A. No, because the goalkeeper may not use the hands to play a ball last deliberately kicked to him or her by a teammate.
Q. Is there any exception to this?
A. Yes, if the ball bounces off an opponent o the way to the ‘keeper, the ‘keeper may dribble it into the penalty area and pick it up.
Q. How about if the ball is kicked to the ‘keeper by a member of the other team?
A. Then it is fine for the goalkeeper to pick it up, but only inside the penalty area.
2. This second item is a recent answer to the question. It should answer everyone’s need.
USSF answer (June 16, 2008):
//deleted//
It is not an infringement of the Law to kick the ball to the goalkeeper, as the goalkeeper has the right to play the ball with the feet at any legal opportunity. The Law spells out perfectly clearly when the offense takes place: When the goalkeeper “touches the ball with his hands,” etc. The restart takes place at that place, bearing in mind the special circumstances regarding free kicks in the goal area.
3. The third item pertains to the ball thown in to the goalkeeper by a teammate.
USSF answer (April 14, 2008):
First, the situation involving a throw-in directly to a goalkeeper by a teammate of the goalkeeper is not an example of the so-called “pass back” to the goalkeeper, it is an entirely separate indirect free kick foul which is listed in Law 12. The only things they have in common is that the action starts with a teammate, followed by the ball going directly to the hands of the goalkeeper, and that it is one of several indirect free kick violations by a goalkeeper designed by the Laws of the Game to discourage instances when, because the ball is being held by the goalkeeper, opponents cannot legally challenge for control.
//rest deleted//
3. The third item combines items on “trickery” as part of an effort to avoid being caught in kicking or throwing the ball to one’s own goalkeeper. It also addresses those instances when coaches become actively involved in helping their team deceive the opponents — that is irresponsible behavior, for which the coach or other team official should be expelled.
USSF answer (October 15, 2008):
There are no longer any International F. A. Board decisions appended to Law 12. They were in the 2007/2008 edition of the Laws. Decision 3 of 2007/2008 reads:
Decision 3
Subject to the terms of Law 12, a player may pass the ball to his own goalkeeper using his head or chest or knee, etc. If, however, in the opinion of the referee, a player uses a deliberate trick while the ball is in play in order to circumvent the Law, the player is guilty of unsporting behavior. He is cautioned, shown the yellow card and an indirect free kick is awarded to the opposing team from the place where the infringement occurred. * (see page 3)
A player using a deliberate trick to circumvent the Law while he is taking a free kick is cautioned for unsporting behavior and shown the yellow card. The free kick is retaken.
In such circumstances, it is irrelevant whether the goalkeeper subsequently touches the ball with his hands or not. The offense is committed by the player in attempting to circumvent both the letter and the spirit of Law 12.
That text is now found in the back of the Laws for 2008/2009, under Interpretations and Guidelines for Referees in reference to cautionable offenses:
* uses a deliberate trick while the ball is in play to pass the ball to his own goalkeeper with his head, chest, knee, etc. in order to circumvent the Law, irrespective of whether the goalkeeper touches the ball with his hands or not. The offense is committed by the player in attempting to circumvent both the letter and the spirit of law 12 and play is restarted with an indirect free kick
* uses a deliberate trick to pass the ball to his own goalkeeper to circumvent the Law while he is taking a free kick (after the player is cautioned, the free kick must be retaken)
It is clear from the text and from accepted use throughout the world — well maybe not in the United States, where “those foreigners” are not allowed to tell us anything — that the IFAB’s meaning is that trickery occurs only when a player is passing the ball to his/her own goalkeeper. It does not occur when the ball is passed to some other player.
Furthermore, just to lock it down tightly, the misconduct offense requires the referee to decide that the action was done to circumvent the Law. Merely observing that the ball was played from foot to head is not enough, even if the ball subsequently goes to or toward the GK. Because we are dealing with misconduct here (the “trickery”) and not the foul commonly referred to as “pass back to the keeper,” we are required to evaluate the intentions of the defender.
USSF answer (October 21 2008):
Your use of the term “trickery” is incorrect. “Trickery” is a “term of art” which has a specific meaning related to attempts to circumvent the restriction on ‘keeper handling following a teammate’s deliberate play of the ball with the foot or a throw-in by a teammate. Nothing else can be described as trickery. Whatever else a player might do to obfuscate, disorient, or fool opponents has to be analyzed apart from the issue of trickery.
The players on the kicking team are allowed to deceive, fool, or disorient their opponents, but that does not include the kicking team’s coach. If it is clear to the referee that the coach’s words were intended to help his team deceive the opposing team, then that could be considered to be irresponsible behavior.
While the league’s rules may allow carding of coaches, we need to remember that the Laws of the Game do not. By accepting a game in a competition whose rules mandate unauthorized actions, the referee also assumes the responsibility for enforcing those mandates.
Under the Laws of the Game team officials may only be expelled, not sent off and shown a card, for irresponsible behavior. If the rules of the competition allow a caution or a send-off for irresponsible behavior, they should also outline what constitutes each offense, so that the referee is able to do the job correctly.
What we can say is that coaches are allowed to give positive input to their players. Coaches ARE NOT ALLOWED to participate in any trickery or ruses. If they do so, that is irresponsible behavior, not unsporting behavior, and coaches or other team officials MUST be expelled for irresponsible behavior.…
Question:
Yesterday, a very highly qualified referee, and that is a sincere statement, stated that the placement of the ball for the indirect free kick resulting from the goalie picking up a deliberate pass back was where the pass originated from.
In this example, not in the penalty area where the goalie picked the ball up, but some 30 yards up field near the halfway line.
His justification was that the foul did not occur when the goalie touched the ball but when the pass was made by the defender and that this was a somewhat “recent advice” to officials regarding “returning the ball to the origination of the foul” or some such notion that he believes was handed down by the rules interpreters.
Three certified officials, 2 of us that were playing in the match and the Match Ref, were later amicably discussing the decision and could agree.
I seem to only be able to find in the rules and advices that the indirect free kick is taken from the spot of infringement.
I believe the foul only occurs when the goalie picks up the ball and the Indirect free kick should always be in the penalty area, since if he touches it outside the area it would be a Direct free kick.
The applicable rule appears to be: Law 12
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 teammate
Correct? Yea or Nay?
USSF answer (June 16, 2008):
If so many officials are getting it wrong, perhaps it is fortunate that you sent in this question. You are, of course, correct and the “very highly qualified referee” is dead wrong.
It is not an infringement of the Law to kick the ball to the goalkeeper, as the goalkeeper has the right to play the ball with the feet at any legal opportunity. The Law spells out perfectly clearly when the offense takes place: When the goalkeeper “touches the ball with his hands,” etc. The restart takes place at that place, bearing in mind the special circumstances regarding free kicks in the goal area.…
Question:
Re U12G 11v11 rules for a Keeper picking up a ball that has been kicked.
My Keeper recently picked up a ball that was kicked by her team.
The situation was as follows. It was a rainy day, the ball was wet, a defender was taking a goal kick to restart the game. By all observations the defender intended to kick the ball down the right flank, but she sliced the ball and it went across the goal mouth in the 6 yard box. The Keeper picked it up based on the fact that the ball had not been deliberately kicked to the Keeper. The Keeper contends that the “pass back” rule for lack of a better description has a double test; one, the ball must be kicked by the foot of a team mate and; two, the ball must be kicked deliberately to the Keeper. She got called for a hand ball.
Can you comment on this situation?
USSF answer (May 29, 2008):
Based on the information you give us, there was no infringement to be punished. The ball never went into play and the only correct solution was for the goal kick to be retaken.
Even if the ball had gone into play — i. e., left the penalty area — the goalkeeper could not have been called for “hand ball.” That suggests the direct free kick/penalty kick foul of deliberately handling the ball; for a goalkeeper, this could occur only if the goalkeeper had left the penalty area. At best, the goalkeeper simply touched the ball with her hands within her own penalty area, an offense punished by an indirect free kick.
Again, if the ball had been properly put into play — and it was not — and if the referee had not called whatever offense occurred a “hand ball,” then there could have been solely the technical offense described above. All of this, of course, depends on how the referee sees the incident. All decisions of this nature are called according to the opinion of the referee on the game.
This excerpt from a recent U. S. Soccer Federation position paper should be of some help in describing the basis for the infringement of the goalkeeper playing the ball kicked deliberately to him or her by a teammate:
…This rarely seen infraction came into the Laws of the Game in 1992 as part of the general effort to restrict opportunities for goalkeepers to waste time by unfairly withholding the ball from active challenge by taking possession of the ball with the hands. Other measures along the same lines include the 6 second limit on goalkeeper possession, the second possession restriction, and the throw-in to the goalkeeper by a teammate.
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.