Question Number: 14570

Law 10 - Method of Scoring 12/10/2006

RE: Basic (Rec) Under 13

Adam Mortensen of San Pedro , Ca asks...

An attacker makes a kick on goal. The ball bounces once before nearing the goal. Then the ball bounces off the underside of the Goal and into the hands of the goalie. The goalie is at least 2 feet deep in his own goal when he makes the catch. I called it a goal because from my vantage point - 20 yards out and to the left of the goal it appeared that he grabbed the ball tucked it to his chest then stepped out of the goal to throw it away. I reasoned that if he were as deep in the goal as he was, that there was no way he could have prevented the ball from going completely past the back side of the goal frame and hence had fully passed beyond the goal line. What I would like to know, is the following: does it matter that the ball did or did not completely pass the backside of the goal line if the goalie caught the ball from beyond the goal line? Must I still assume that the ball is in play even if it is touched by a player outside the field of play as long as it is still not completely beyond the goal line?

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

The issue here is did the entire ball cross the goal line or not. It does not matter where the keepers feet are, but where the ball is. If the whole ball passes over the entire goal line between the posts and under cross bar, goal. Also, your AR should have been right on the line to make this call for you. Since it was a rec game, perhaps you had no AR and you had to make a decision. In this case if you are on doubt, you are going to lean on not making it a goal.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Adam, what matters is if all the ball crossed all the line. If not, no goal. If you weren't certain this happened, you should NOT have awarded a goal. Reason and logic have nothing to do with it, You have to be SURE that a goal was scored in accordance with Law 10. Where was your AR? From your vantage point, I don't see how you would be able to tell whether or not a goal was scored.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Along with Ref Mueller I assume that you are in a league that does not use AR's at this age. I could write a treatise on this topic alone. Perhaps I'll wait until we get a question to that topic specifically.

If you had an AR, she should have been running down the line level with play, and would have had a much better view than you. If you don't have assistants, you need to move more. Plain and simple, you can't make this call accurately from outside the PA. You have to be where you can see it for sure.

When you can say for sure that the entirety of the ball was across the entirety of the goal line, inside the goalposts and below the crossbar, then you count the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI adam,
my colleagues have indicated you need to be sure a ball has indeed fully crossed the line. If a ball is in contact with a PA (penalty area) boundryline and overhangs part way into the field or across the goaline into the netted area then the ball is considered to be inside the PA thus if the ball is(deliberately handled) by the keeper in his own PA it is legal, play on, if an attacker it is a dfk out and if a defender it becomes a PK.

That said as a single official you will be caught out though you must try to anticipate, as the skill level is lacking who knows at times where a ball might wind up!

You awarded the goal based on a keeper position back int he goal where it would be a physical impossibility to hold the ball against the chest and not have it in behind the goalline as a fact of play, your match,your decision, your reputation as such indisputable.

Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

We have all seen a referee standing well away from play then having to make a critical decision. This is why referees above the entry level are supposed to take a physical fitness test and pass it.

Given better fitness a referee can, if he chooses, gain a position that will allow a better view of incidents like this.

Right, the fitness thing is out of my system -- now to Law 10. The whole of the ball over the goal line under the crossbar and between the posts. It does not matter where players are, the only thing that counts is did the ball leave the field of play where Law 10 says a goal is scored. If all the goalkeeper's team mates were off the pitch in the goal and the keeper caught the ball in the goal after it crossed the goal line a goal has been scored. If 1 mm of ball was above 1 mm of goal line the ball remained in play. This black and white thing becomes shades of grey when there are no assistants and the referee is not in a position to see for himself. Sometimes goals scored are not seen and sometimes a ball in play is scored as a goal, these things happen at any level of Football.

Not only that but at any level of Football, even with assistants, this can happen even with the referee and assistant properly positioned. As example a free kick close in with the referee watching the wall for handling and the assistant watching for offside. Here both are properly positioned and neither can see the ball in and out of the goal. Stuff just happens. We just hope it happens to the other guy not us. It is far easier fo critique another's decision than to explain ours.

Regards,

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 14591