GK handball advice

[DeanoMT10]

Afternoon all.
Consulted the LOTG, but still struggling.

Incident today where a long ball is played over the defence.
Goalkeeper hesitates.
Closed down by the attacker.
Goalkeeper is positioned just inside his box almost in line with the corner flag so it’s deep.
Then as he panicks he picks the ball up.

Absolute uproar.
From where I was I knew it was close but honestly I don’t know. Looked like it was on the line.
I ran to the club AR who was a parent and asked and they said the ball was in the box.

Now. Right or wrong. I don’t know.
I’m sure I’ll get the video footage from the club.

What is the sanction if it were outside?
Is it a yellow and a direct FK?

Please help me on my ever growing new journey.

 

[RustyRef]

Handball itself isn't a cautionable offence, and in this situation it could be any of just a free kick, an SPA caution or a DOGSO red. You have to judge how much of a chance the attacker would have had of getting the ball had the keeper not handled it. Sometimes they just misjudge where they are and would have had loads of time to clear the ball, in which case it is just a free kick, whereas sometimes the attacker is right on top of them at the time of handling and that would likely be DOGSO.

 

[DeanoMT10]

Thanks mate.
Appreciate the response.
Makes sense.

 

[socal lurker]

excellent response above. I’d just add that you were 100% right not to call this if you weren’t sure. (This is a much easier call with a NAR who should be close to looking straight down the line and will be primed to watch it.)

 

[RefereeX]

One further point to add to the good responses above, is that in this situation, if you're certain it's handball but not certain whether it requires a sanction or what that sanction should be, it's probably best to err on the side of (a) caution. (Did you see what I did there?)

A lot of (sometimes uneducated) football players / spectators automatically expect a sanction for a goalkeeper handball. Unless it's an easy explanation that there was clearly no promising attack to stop, or an easy explanation that the goalkeeper denied a very clear and obvious goal scoring oppportunity, a caution will usually placate everyone.