Question Number: 14601

Law 13 - Free Kicks 12/16/2006

RE: Competitive Under 13

Aubrey Waddell of Maryville, TN USA asks...

A team is awarded a free kick just outside its own penalty area. The kicker elects to use the free kick to play the ball back to his goalkeeper. The goalkeeper is not expecting the pass, notices the ball quite late, and dives at the ball to keep it from going into the goal. During the dive and before the ball reaches the goal line, the goal keeper touches the ball with his hands and the ball continues across the goal line and into the goal. Is the goal allowed on the advantage rule or is the goal disallowed and an indirect free kick awarded to the opposing team at the spot where the goalkeeper improperly handled the ball?

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

This is going to be a goal. If the keeper allowed the ball to enter his goal directly we would have awarded a corner kick to the opposing team, per Law 13.

To refuse the advantage and award an indirect free kick 6 yards from the goal line is simply not understanding what playing advantage means.

The referee allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time. To most a goal is more of an advantage than an indirect free kick.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

A team cannot score on itself from a free kick. The keeper could have let it roll in and it would have been a corner kick. Of course the referee is going to apply advantage here and award the goal.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

The keeper should have let the ball roll into the goal and give the corner kick. Perhaps at U13 he did not realise he wasn't stopping a goal. You can't score on yourself directly from any restart. By touching the ball he now made it possible for this to result in a goal. Unless the referee blew his whistle at the moment of the touch, it's a goal. If ball was blown dead than it's an IFK at the 6.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Aubrey,
the laws are set up so it is an impossibility to score against ones own self DIRECTLY on any restart.

While we can debate the dubious tactic of having a free kick kicked back towards one's own goal a keeper can not under law 12 handle a deliberately kicked ball with his hands inside his own PA without giving up an indfk to the opponents.

Once a keeper uses his hands on the ball the referee will likely blow for this infraction however if the referee delays the whistle to see what effect the mishandling has and apply the law 5 advantage he will see the ball completely cross the goal line under the crossbar between the posts for a legal albeit very ugly goal.

The indfk restart is not as advantageous as the goal is to the opponents because the second touch of the ball by the keeper completes the requirement for an indfk to indirectly enter the goal as ugly and as unfair as it may seem it was created by bad judgement of the teammate taking the free kick or throw in and an even worse goal keeping mistake! If the goal is allowed and no I NDFK awarded we restart with a kick off at centre. Cheers

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

See Question: 14628