Question Number: 34219

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/15/2021

RE: Adult

John Christopher Fairweather of Woking, United Kingdom asks...

In Wednesday's (12/04/21) Premier League match "Chelsea vs Arsenal", the Chelsea goalkeeper stopped (1) A back pass with his hands & (2) Stopped the ball going into the net, by the back pass.
If Arsenal had not scored, my question is - Do these two events constitute a Red Card and a Penalty, or just a Yellow Card and a Free Kick to Arsenal?

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi John,
The answer is, "none of the above"

If Arsenal had not scored and the referee had given an offence against the keeper, it would have been an indirect free kick to Arsenal, to be "taken from the nearest point on the goal area line which runs parallel to the goal line" (as per Law 13) and no card of any colour.

The lack of sanction is according to the provisions of Law 12, which state that:

"If the goalkeeper handles the ball inside their penalty area when not permitted to do so, an indirect free kick is awarded but there is no disciplinary sanction."

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi John,
keep in mind it's the keeper's job to prevent goals, he is allowed to use the hands inside his PA. My colleague Ref Grove quotes the perfect example wording to indicate the correct LOTG applications.

When any ball comes off a teammate towards the keeper there is the possibility of miscommunication, a miskick, a bad bounce, a lot of scambling pressure by nearby opponents creating circumstances for the keeper to WANT to reach out and prevent a goal or scoring opportunity, perhaps not aware the referee holds the opinion it was an intentional deliberate kick that sent the ball on its way.

Not that any of that mattered here, that ball was going into the goal, over the goal line under the crossbar, and between the posts. NO keeper is going to permit a ball to enter their goal they are defending worried an INDFKmight happen. For sure a goal CAN NOT happen on their watch. lol

The fact a referee holds the opinion the handling action is an INDFK from the point in the PA where the hands were used on the ball. In this case, the 6 yd goal area has a special restriction that no free-kick occurs within 6 yards of the goal itself. This means in the opinion of the referee, the event clearly indicated the defender's intention which was to deliberately kick said ball to his keeper as a relief value but did it poorly rather than a miskick swing of the leg to clear, that went astray.

The INDFK restriction on a direct pass back from a deliberate kick or a direct throw-in from a teammate was placed as a deterrent to avoid wasting time more than anything else.

The fact the indfk offers a great scoring opportunity out of essentially nothing the attackers did to deserve it, except possibly to apply pressure to create confusion and force the keeper to react to a potential threat. This is the reason I believe there is no misconduct attached to this particular event. Thu no cards to be shown in this case of illegal handling inside the PA

However, are you aware that DOGSO or a caution COULD apply if the illegal handling was the 2nd touch after a release even if inside the PA?

In the game, you indicate the referee correctly applied advantage goal results, kick off restarts, all was good!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi John
The lawmakers IFAB when it introduced the so called *backpass* law did not want goalkeepers to be sanctioned for doing what they have to do which is use their hands to makes saves including errors on deliberate kicks to them by team mates.

As a result it is an indirect free kick only with no disciplinary sanction so in the Chelsea game the only possible outcome would have been an IDFK from where the goalkeeper touched the ball with his hands or on the six yard line if it happened inside the goal area.

One could not expect a goalkeeper to do nothing in such situations inside their penalty area for fear of getting sent off hence no card is required. Outside the penalty area the goalkeeper is like any other outfield player and if the 4 DOGSO criteria are met on deliberate handling then it would be a red card.