The Ref Stop

Open Age Goalkeeper Handball

Bobby

New Member
Hi,

Had a slightly indifferent one this weekend.

The Occurrence
Attacking Whites launched the ball long the Blues keeper miss judged the bounce and on his second attempt accidently kicked the ball up onto his slightly raised arm and therefore controlling the ball. He did clear it after this occurance.

Whites were calling for handball. My two issues were the goalkeeper was facing away from me and I was unsighted when the occurance happened. Secondly the incident was genuinely accidental. That's how I explained it.

My Questions/Alternative Outcomes

1)
Was I correct to allow play to continue as it wasn't deliberate handball. If not why?

2) If the keeper had deliberately handled the ball would the decision be DFK and Caution.

3) If the keeper deliberately handled the ball but the White player went through on goal and scored. Would you still go back and caution the goalkeeper for the offense.

Thanks all!
 
The Ref Stop
1) You decide. It's "in the opinion of the referee". If you don't think it was deliberate, it wasn't. Play on! We are asked to consider a variety of factors: proximity, natural arm position, hand-to-ball... without seeing it, only you can tell us. If the GK deliberately controlled the ball with his hand outside the area then it's handball, but if the was able to play the ball with his feet after an accidental handball then play on. Careful of using the term "control" here as in the LotG GK control is about GK handling in the box;)
2) DFK but only YC if you have a reason e.g. stopping a promising attack, so if the deliberate handball stopped the ball going to a player in a promising position that could be a YC. Not mandatory though. Could also be a RC if deliberate to deny an obvious goalscoring opportunity.
3) There are a couple of scenarios I can think of where you could caution. If the handball interferes with a promising attack but you play advantage and there is a goal, you could justify a YC - even though it didn't stop a promising attack, there is this in the LotG in the YC section: "handles the ball to interfere with or stop a promising attack". It would be a pretty tough sell without the advantage I think as it would be hard to explain the interference otherwise. The other example I can think of is if the GK deliberately handles outside the box to stop a shot but the shot still goes in. Then it's a mandatory caution.

My two cents, or three;)
 
Assuming the incident was outside Blue PA.

1. As mentioned its a judgment call and you as he referee have to make that call. There are guideline on what to interpret as deliberate and even with those guidelines some incidents fall into a grey area with a lot of debate generated. Here are FIFA considerations when judging what is deliberate:

41 Is the hand moving towards the ball or is the ball moving towards the hand?
42 Are the player's hand's or arms in a ¨NATURAL POSITION" or an ¨UNNATURAL POSITION"?
43 Does the player attempt to avoid the ball striking his hand?
44 Does the ball strike his hand from a short or from a long distance?
45 Does the player use his hand or arm to deliberately touch or block the ball?
46 Does the player prevent an opponent gaining possession of the ball by handling it?
47 Does the player attempt to score a goal by deliberately handling the ball?
48 Does the player prevent a goal by deliberately handling the ball?
49 Does the player prevent an obvious goalscoring opportunity by deliberately handling the ball?
50 Does the player try to deceive the referee by handling the ball?
256 Is the ball moving in the direction of the goal?

2 and 3. Can't add any further value to what santa said.
 
1) Do you feel as if it was a natural position? Consider how far the arms are from the body, the amount of time the player had to move his hands away, whether or not they moved their arm towards or away from the ball, and if the ball bounced up unexpectedly.

I think you have to be a little forgiving at grassroots level, the state of some public recs is abysmal, and there's bound to be a few odd bounces on an uneven surface (I had one a few weeks back where the ball rolled forwards towards the keeper for the easiest dive you'll ever see, and suddenly bobbled and flew up four feet in the air over the keeper into the goal).

2) If you feel it warrants a caution, then sure.

3) Absolutely.
 
Bear in mind that when you go to kick the ball, especially when giving it a bit punt, the natural movement of the arm on the opposite side to the leg kicking it is to come out from the body. If the keeper kicks the ball onto that outstretched then I would say it is harsh to call that a deliberate handling. Search Google Images for goalkeeper kicking and you'll see what I mean, as example can be seen below.

TimHowardGoalKick.jpg
 
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