Question Number: 35863

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 1/16/2025

Stewart of Livermore, California United States asks...

Say a ball last touched by an attacker roles slowly towards the goalkeeper, with nobody nearby. The goalkeeper bends down and easily stops the ball with their hands inside the penalty area and away from the goal. After a few seconds the keeper then bends down and picks it up. Does it make a difference if the goalkeeper dribbled the ball with their feet after stopping it with their hands, and then picked it up? What if they dribbled the ball outside the penalty area and then dribbled it back in?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Stewart
Thanks for the question.

What you describe is called a parry and technically under the Laws it is considered a catch and immediate release of the ball. When that happens a goalkeeper may not touch the ball with the hands again until it has been played by an opponent or in a legal manner by a team mate.

At one time the Laws expressly mentioned parrying yet that was subsequently removed and it is now covered under * touches the ball with the hand/arm after releasing it and before it has touched another player*.

Now there can be a fine line between a save and a parry. If it is considered a save then there is no restriction on the goalkeeper. A referee in most cases may give the benefit of doubt to the goalkeeper that the contact is a save.
I have seen many players ignore obvious parries and pick up with the referee also duly ignoring same.

I recall in a Champions League game a referee penalsing exactly what you describe and I have seen many ignored.

I recall only penalizing this once. In what was a tight game with time running out the leading team goalkeeper parried a soft through ball and then dribbled off to the extremity of the penalty area waiting for an attacker to close him down. There was a shout from an attacker that the goalkeeper could not pick it up and he was correct. I immediately awarded the indirect free kick when the ball was picked up telling the goalkeeper why it was awarded.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Stewart,
if the ball is not a threat to score and the hands are simply, say, blocking it from going out of bounds into touch. It is not treated as a production save of serious intention. As my colleague Ref McHugh stated this is called a "PARRY" and is considered 100% control as both a catch with possession and an immediate release of the ball back into active play without the needed use of those additional 6 seconds the keeper COULD have enjoyed. In the scenarios described your keeper just gave away free ball possession with an opportunity to score from a brain freeze when they misuse the hands contrary to the LOTG! ! The dribbling about in or out of the PA is fine BUT unless any another player has made physical contact with the ball the keeper is forbidden to use their hands INSIDE the PA for what would be classified as a 2nd touch and an INDFK from that point,
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Stewart,

Thanks for your question. I agree with my esteemed colleagues - a GK handling the ball and releasing it (such as what you describe here), then handling it again, as an indirect free kick. Whether the GK has dribbled the ball with their feet at any point makes no difference.

Now, there is a little problem in the wording of the LOTG that this isn't an offence if the first touch is a save. That's fine, I think we all agree on that. But it then defines a save as any ball going towards or near goal, whereas in the past we could make the judgement on whether the GK handling-then-releasing is the result of a difficult ball (We'd always give the benefit of the doubt on a hard shot), or one they could easily have caught but chose to palm it down. We also have the issue of sometimes the text of the law doesn't quite say what the mean it to and we have to apply our understanding of the intent of the law.

My point? By a strict interpretation of the law, a ref could say that if this slowly rolling ball was heading anywhere near the goal, then what you describe is a save, even though we all know - from our football understanding and common sense - that this isn't the case! But, it can leave a ref in a pickle.

Unfortunately, refs are often lenient to punish goalkeeper's here. An IFK is a big call here, potentially match-changing and one where the punishment probably doesn't fit the crime (which is a big part of why 6 seconds is never enforced - and IFAB are considering a different restart for this). So (and I'm not saying this is right), refs are often reluctant to penalise here unless they really have to. And it's funny how often a clear, blatant offence here, nobody calls for - then you have strikers calling for a foul when the first handling was clearly an uncontrolled save! But refs will often be reluctant for a potentially match-changing decision over a minor offence, especially one nobody was calling for. It tends to turn an easy match into a very problematic one. Again, not defending this, but it's the current reality.

Answer provided by Referee Joe Manjone

Hi Stewart,

Thank you for this question.

I believe the high school rules provide a clearer definition when the NFHS uses the word, "control" in this rule.

If the goalkeeper controls the ball with the hands and then gives up control, he/she may not touch it with the hands again until it has been played or touched by another player.

In your situation, the goalkeeper easily stopped the ball with the hands which to me indicates the ball was controlled by the hands. Thus, once the goalkeeper removed the hands from the ball, he/she could not touch it again until it was played by another player. The penalty for touching it again is an indirect kick from the spot of the second touching unless it is in the goal area.

I see the high school soccer season is now taking place in Livermore and the team is off to a good start. I hope they continue this all the way to the championship game.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Stewart,
When it comes to your questions on whether it makes a difference if the goalkeeper dribbled the ball between the first and second touches with the hands, there is a simple answer. No, it does not make a difference. This is equally true whether the goalie dribbled the ball only inside the penalty area or both inside and outside the penalty area.

What is not so simple is deciding whether there is a restriction on the keeper touching the ball with the hands a second time in the scenario you describe, or not.

As my colleagues have alluded to, this all comes down to the question of whether the first touch by the keeper constituted control and release of the ball, or was a save. This is something that only the referee in the game in question can decide, based on their view of the incident.

I think my colleague have already given a good presentation of the various considerations that are involved in making this judgement so I will refrain from adding anything else in this regard as it would probably be a bit repetitive.