keeper touching ball

rcwilco · #1 (**permalink**) Sun Sep 08, 2002, 11:25am

U13 girls. play is in the penalty area and near penalty mark. there are numerous players from both teams in the box, (about four or five from each team). As the ball is bouncing around from attacker to defender and back, a defender kicks the ball which goes towards the keeper, the keeper bends over and touches it with her hands, when a team mate yells out "Don't touch it!", she takes her hands off of it and straightens up. I have no whistle, the defensive team pauses and the attacking team makes a goal a few seconds later. The goal was scored because of their pausing.
In my opinion there was not intent to kick the ball to the keeper, I do not believe the defender was looking at the keeper, only trying to get it the heck out of there, and the ball was bouncing all over the place. so I had no problems with not calling an IFK.
This was the only goal scored in the game.
After the game the coach and I chatted for a minute and he agreed with me that his team should have played the whistle. He said he was surprised that I did not blow the whistle as other refs have blown it whenever his keeper touches the ball anytime the ball comes from a defender.
I felt bad that in a well played game it was decided by this play but cannot really think of anything to do different. Any thoughts?

kansassoccerref · #2 (**permalink**) Sun Oct 27, 2002, 01:53pm

Ron,

You should be feeling good for doing your job the right way. Unfortunately, it's the other referees who are NOT interpreting the rule correctly who set up this situation. By incorrectly applying the passback law, they have created an expectation in the minds of these young players that the keeper cannot handle the ball in this situation. While there's nothing you can do about the game that you described, you can help effect change in the future by including a discussion of the situation in your pre-game, especially when you're working with younger refs.

Hang in there!

CecilOne · #3 (**permalink**) Wed Nov 20, 2002, 01:20pm

Agreed, ksr, although I'm not thrilled with discussing every subjective rule in pre-game. There are always those who seem to apply a rule just to prove they have heard of it, instead of understanding it. In this case, the spirit of the rule(minimizing time-wasting) is more important than the literal wording. This is like the constant cry of "handball" from the fans, even though the ball was a point blank rocket from behind the player.

kansassoccerref · #4 (**permalink**) Wed Nov 20, 2002, 10:57pm

Spot on, Cecil! I'm not a fan of long-winded pre-games. However, if there's a trend in an area to misapply a rule (or to enforce it too stringently), a quick word about it in the pre-game can go a long way.

I got a good chuckle out of your tag line -- you're right, knowing the game doesn't mean knowing how to referee the game! Did you see the article on Officiating.com about Blatter wanting to give former players a free ticket to the highest levels of refereeing?

jumpball6 · #5 (**permalink**) Wed Dec 04, 2002, 07:45pm

Soccer is NEW to my game, a couple of rule clarifications...

1st - Pass back to the goalie, what is legal and what is not? I know trickery cannot be used when passing back to the goalie, But from a throw in can a player head the ball back to their own goalie?

2nd - Goalie picks up a ball that rolls along the penalty area and only his foot is out and not the ball. I did not blow a handball on the goalie, since the ball never went outside the line--correct or not?

3rd - Another wierd but it happened call. A goalie slides to recover a ball and keeps the ball in play, but his body slides out beyond the end ine while he is still holiding the ball in play and the official gives a corner kick to the opposing team since the goalie was out. Correct or not?

kansassoccerref · #6 (**permalink**) Thu Dec 05, 2002, 12:44am

Jumpball6:

Addressing your questions one by one...

1. The issue of a player heading a throw-in back to the goalie is, to my mind, something of a gray area, one that I would say falls into the realm of YHTBT (You Had To Be There). Given the game context, it could or could not be a call. If the team is using this as a time-wasting tactic (the reason the rule was adopted in the first place), I'd likely give the players a sharp word to knock it off, then enforce on the next occurance (if there is one). Other refs with more experience may wish to weigh in on this.

2. and 3. fall under the same rule, but one (#2) is a correct interpretation while the other is not. The issue is where the BALL is, not where the player's body (or any part thereof) is. As with balls into touch, the entire ball must be over the entire line for it to be out. In #2, the ball stayed in the PA, so you were correct in allowing play to continue. In #3, if the ball did not cross all the way over the goal line, the referee was in error in awarding the corner kick. The call that's REALLY fun is when the keeper catches the ball on the end line, then turns to shield it from an onrushing attacker and carries the entire ball over the goal line. I was involved in a game where a sharp AR noticed that the GK was standing two feet behind the goal line for a PK. She caught the ball, then turned to the side. When she caugh the ball, it was on top of the goal line. When she turned, she carried the ball over the line, giving the team the goal!

Jeff the Ref · #7 (**permalink**) Fri Dec 06, 2002, 12:11pm

Quote:

Originally posted by kansassoccerref
Jumpball6:

I was involved in a game where a sharp AR noticed that the GK was standing two feet behind the goal line for a PK. She caught the ball, then turned to the side. When she caugh the ball, it was on top of the goal line. When she turned, she carried the ball over the line, giving the team the goal!

Not sharp enough though. A rekick should have occurred as the goalkeeper violated by not being on the goal line at time the ball was played.

kansassoccerref · #8 (**permalink**) Sat Dec 07, 2002, 07:31pm

True, the letter of the law says that the keeper is to be on the line. However, I think this is a spirit v. letter of the law situation. If the keeper was stationary and not moving forward or backward, she was within the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. Additionally, she put herself at a disadvantage with her positioning. Is it the referee's responsibility to identify and correct such situations?

Jeff the Ref · #9 (**permalink**) Mon Dec 09, 2002, 08:05am

Keeper should have some part of both feet on the line at the time of the kick. They may move laterally. Some may find that being back of the line is a advantagous position for the keeper by giving them a split second more to react.

jumpball6 · #10 (**permalink**) Sat Feb 01, 2003, 12:09am

I live on a remote island in the Marshall Islands, about 2200 miles past Hawaii. Our sports are run opposite times as back in the states, so soccer is probably way over or hasn't started yet... But anyway!!

I run the Adult Aport leagues outhere and my youth supervisor brought up a "find me" question. Can the goalie dribble the ball from outside the penalty area and pick it up? I of course said no, because it was a trickery situation. She told me to find it in the FIFA book and I can't.

1st - Am I right?

2nd - Where is it in the FIFA book?

Jeff the Ref · #11 (**permalink**) Tue Feb 04, 2003, 02:42pm

Yup!

empearson · #12 (**permalink**) Tue Feb 25, 2003, 04:41pm

Can a keeper dribble the ball into her penalty area and pick it up?

She can if the ball was not played to her by a defender by passing with her feet or if the ball was not played to her directly on a throw-in. For example, she can capture an errant offensive pass with her feet outside the area, dribble into area, then pick the ball up. But she cannot control a pass from a teammate outside the area, dribble into area, then pick it up.