Question Number: 28369

Law 5 - The Referee 4/27/2014

RE: Select Under 12

Larry Kap of Middletown, PA United States asks...

Dropped ball after injury. Ref instructs player to kick ball to opposing goalie. Instead of a courtesy kick to goalie, player takes a shot. Keeper bobbles ball and it goes in the goal. I know you can't score directly from a dropped ball anymore, but what about if the goalie misplays it like in this case? Is the resulting restart a goal kick or a kickoff?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Larry
IFAB introduced this Law for the following reason which I quote.
"" There have been a number of occasions where goals have been scored from ‘uncontested’ dropped balls. This has put a great deal of pressure on the referee as he has to allow the goal to stand. We then have the unseemly situation where the opposition allow the team to score from the kick off without any players trying to stop them in order to rebalance the game.""
The Law as now stated is
'' If the ball enters the goal:
# if a dropped ball is kicked directly into the opponents' goal, a goal kick is awarded''
Referees have asked for clearer instructions on what is meant by directly due to on-field experiences. Does a 2nd touch by the kicker also negate the "directly" as well.
The subject was discussed at the recent IFAB meeting in Zurich on the 1st March 2014. A proposal from the Technical Sub-Committee was approved whereby IFAB will appoint a group to revise the structure and format of the Laws of the Game including changes such as the addition of a glossary. This glossary will help to clarify wording in the Laws such as the discussion on the interpretation of the word ‘direct.’ and will help to better define the wording in this case and others.
At the moment it is up to the referee to decide based on the circumstances he has to deal with in a game and what he interprets as 'directly'. I do what is 'best' for the game using the Laws of the Game.
In Europe in 2012 a player was banned for one game for scoring in this "uncontested" fashion so those in administration in Europe certainly don't want it to happen. It is unclear though how UEFA want referees to handle this in future and are no doubt awaiting IFAB's advice in this. Certainly prevention is always better than cure.
http://www.uefa.org/disciplinary/news/newsid=1899812.html

Also it is never a good idea for the referee to instruct. It is better to get agreement as to what is going to happen and to manage that as per the Laws of the Game. Increasingly at underage I am not encouraging Fair Play restarts. I had a DB at the weekend at U12 and I asked two players to contest it which they did happily. No possibility of the 'direct' goal or for that matter field position by kicking the ball to one end to allow teams to then push up on a weak GK kick.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Larry,

This is where good intentions can go horribly awry. It's not up to the referee to instruct players on what to do here - the player is perfectly entitled to take a shot, and if any other player (including the keeper) touches the ball then it's a legitimate goal.

The referee can make suggestions, and if the player indicates they want to do a sporting restart then it may be worth suggesting that they kick it to the side of the goal (so if the ball bounces over the keeper's head it'll just go out), to kick it straight over the goal line - or if it's in the penalty area, perhaps suggest they just leave it for the keeper.

If the player does state that his intention is to do one of these things but he takes a shot instead then the verbal deception is misconduct, and the player should be cautioned with an IFK awarded to the opponents.

In your scenario Larry, the result is a goal.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The referee has no current power to disallow the goal.

But, the team that scored still has a sporting option. Allow the other team to score or score an own goal to balance the situation. IMO, that solution should not be suggested by the referee.

But, if the team decides that what is what they will do, the referee can help by making sure the captain tells everyone loudly what to do next.
It helps prevent action by someone doesn't get the word. I once saw a nasty brawl caused when the one clueless defender tackled the attacker who had been allowed to go down field to score.