A&H

Junior/Youth Backpass?

Cal_Duffy44

New Member
Level 7 Referee
Hey, I've only recently joined this forum and was hoping perhaps someone out there could answer something for me about an incident in one of my games recently?

To set the scene, it's an u11's game, whites are playing reds and the whites are winning 4-1. Despite rain throughout the week, the pitch, although boggy and a bit muddy in places, is more than playable. In the last minute, the reds launch a quick counter attack and get to the edge of the whites penalty area in a 3 (white defenders) v 2 (red attackers) situation. The white defenders successfully manage to tackle the reds and a white defender kicks the ball in the direction of the byline, obviously attempting to concede a corner in order to relieve the pressure on his team. However, whilst on a drier pitch the ball would have gone out for a corner, on this occasion on the muddy pitch, the ball grinds to a halt just before leaving the field of play (i.e. the ball is still in play, just inside the whites penalty area and just before the byline where it would go out for a corner). The whites goalkeeper, after a 2/3 second pause deciding what to do, comes out of his goal and opts to pick the ball up, cue shouts of "Backpass Ref!".

I decided not to give it, as the back pass rule dictates that the ball has to be played with the intention of playing it to the keeper, and on this occasion, I felt the defender was trying to clear it for a corner. Was this the right decision, despite the time delay between the ball stopping and the goalkeeper picking it up, and the fact the goalkeeper was about 15 yards away from the player when the ball was kicked towards his byline? Any help would be much appreciated.
 
The Referee Store
From what you have typed it seems you got it correct, if you don't feel the kick was intentionally meant for the keeper than no offence has been committed. Someone kicking a ball to the corner flag, when the goalkeeper ( I would guess) is in or around the actual goals, is by the sound of it, not kicking that ball deliberately to the goalkeeper.
 
From what you have typed it seems you got it correct, if you don't feel the kick was intentionally meant for the keeper than no offence has been committed. Someone kicking a ball to the corner flag, when the goalkeeper ( I would guess) is in or around the actual goals, is by the sound of it, not kicking that ball deliberately to the goalkeeper.

Thanks, yeah I felt it was a clearance as opposed to a pass back to the keeper and that's why I didn't give it, otherwise if it had've been an attempted back pass I would have 100% given it
 
Great job. Key is deliberate pass (or trick) to the keeper. This sounds pretty clear cut.

I had one a few weeks ago that I posted about where the keeper came and nicked the ball off a teammate from the corner of the box. The outfield player frankly didn't know much about it so I couldn't say it was a deliberate pass from a teammate. Didn't give it - most everyone on this forum backed me up on that.
 
Yes, according to the laws, you were correct. I still think this should fall under the law--like with a genuine backpass, it takes two to tango ('if the keeper handles a deliberate play' might be an improvement). At the moment, some players may even deliberately pass away from the keeper to allow him/her to pick it up. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it's possible.
 
Great job. Key is deliberate pass (or trick) to the keeper. This sounds pretty clear cut.

I had one a few weeks ago that I posted about where the keeper came and nicked the ball off a teammate from the corner of the box. The outfield player frankly didn't know much about it so I couldn't say it was a deliberate pass from a teammate. Didn't give it - most everyone on this forum backed me up on that.

Thanks mate, glad I seemed to make the right decision in the end. Your 'incident' seems like a rare one as well haha, but yeah, I'd agree with you and would say you made the right decision in your case too.
 
Yes, according to the laws, you were correct. I still think this should fall under the law--like with a genuine backpass, it takes two to tango ('if the keeper handles a deliberate play' might be an improvement). At the moment, some players may even deliberately pass away from the keeper to allow him/her to pick it up. I'm not saying that's what happened here, but it's possible.

Yeah, I can see what you mean. In my case, I was fairly sure it was an attempted clearance, but yeah, there'll most probably be other cases that'll be similar to what your'e getting at.
 
Great job. Key is deliberate pass (or trick) to the keeper. This sounds pretty clear cut.

I had one a few weeks ago that I posted about where the keeper came and nicked the ball off a teammate from the corner of the box. The outfield player frankly didn't know much about it so I couldn't say it was a deliberate pass from a teammate. Didn't give it - most everyone on this forum backed me up on that.
Just done one of the LOTG quizzes there and the scenario was similar....apparently it is a backpass and should be penalised?
 
Just done one of the LOTG quizzes there and the scenario was similar....apparently it is a backpass and should be penalised?
What organisation was responsible for this LOTG quiz? Unless it was the IFAB the answers can't be considered authoritative. I've seen plenty of online quizzes that were full of errors, mis-statements or questionable interpretations of the law so I'm not sure I would put too much reliance on an answer in a quiz.

Since there is nothing in the laws that specifically addresses this exact scenario, any answer is only an opinion and not definitive unless it's backed up by the IFAB. In fact, I'm not sure even they could give a definite answer since this is one of the few areas where the law still calls on the referee to decide whether something was done deliberately and such decisions are necessarily subjective.
 
Just done one of the LOTG quizzes there and the scenario was similar....apparently it is a backpass and should be penalised?
In the areferee.com multiple choice quiz there is a question with the defender controlling the ball and the GK picking it up. Their answer is IDFK.

I've written to them to either cite why or correct the answer.

This is one that I believe divides sone of our senior colleagues.

Do we have the IFAB word on this?
 
In the areferee.com multiple choice quiz there is a question with the defender controlling the ball and the GK picking it up. Their answer is IDFK.
It's from a FIFA trivia quiz. That quiz contained a number of things that were considered to be the desired interpretation (from FIFA) at the time. Whether that's still the desired interpretation from IFAB would require an inquiry to them.

All of areferee's questions (save about 10) are from that same FIFA quiz.
 
I would still argue that no-one (not even the IFAB in all their wisdom) can give a definitive answer since it requires seeing the incident occur and deciding whether the action can be deemed as a deliberate kick to the keeper. It's like asking, "There is contact between a player's hand and the ball - is this a handling offence?" The answer is that it depends on whether it was a deliberate action or not and for me, only the referee who sees the incident take place can make that decision.
 
Last edited:
I would still argue that no-one (not even the IFAB in all their wisdom) can give a definitive answer since it requires seeing the incident occur and deciding whether the action can be deemed as a deliberate kick to the keeper. It's like asking, "There is contact between a player's hand and the ball - is this a handling offence?" The answer is that it depends on whether it was a deliberate action or not and for me, only the referee who sees the incident take place can make that decision.
in the opinion of the referee then?
 
Good decision. You will see lots of these at youth levels and you can tell what is a pass back and what is bad clearence poor touches etc.
 
I had an iterating scenario. Through ball for the striker. Defender get between the ball and striker shielding the ball. Keeper comes forward and bends to pick up the ball. At the last second the defender panicks and kicks the ball to the keeper. The keeper tries to move his hands out of the way but the ball still touches the keeper's hand. He then kicks it away. I blow for an IFK. The keeper says I didn't want to touch it. I stayed with my easy sell decision considering his original intent was to touch it.

The question is, do you consider intent by the keeper when he touches it after a deliberate kick to him by a team mate? (Say a touch that would not be considered a deliberate handball outside the PA)

LOTG says the kick has to be deliberte but nothing about intent of the keeper's touch.
 
The keeper tries to move his hands out of the way but the ball still touches the keeper's hand. He then kicks it away. I blow for an IFK.
The goalkeeper touched the ball with the hands after it has been deliberately kicked to them by a team-mate.

The Law is:
touches the ball with the hands after:
  • it has been deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper by a team-mate
None of the GK touching the ball with hands offences require it to be deliberate or "with intent"... just touches with hands.
 
OK then, while my scenario was an easy one, here is the scenario I am having trouble with (you know... intent of the law and all that). Defender kicks the ball back to the keeper. The keeper shapes to kick it long but the ball bobble up on a divot on the ground and the keeper miss-kicks it into his own hand which is in a natural position. IFK right?
 
OK then, while my scenario was an easy one, here is the scenario I am having trouble with (you know... intent of the law and all that). Defender kicks the ball back to the keeper. The keeper shapes to kick it long but the ball bobble up on a divot on the ground and the keeper miss-kicks it into his own hand which is in a natural position. IFK right?
For me, once the GK has kicked the ball, we enter a new phase of play. A phase in which the ball is entitled to hit his hand. So no issues with this scenario
 
Back
Top