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Referees,<br>
<br>
As promised, here is my summary of the discussions on this topic. The
discussions included the Wednesday 10/7 coach/referee <i>Talk-it-out</i>
gathering, as well as several side-channel email threads that included
senior referees and referee instructors in AYSO section 2 and area A.
The summary also includes research into guidelines and memoranda issued
by the USSF National Referee staff.<br>
<br>
Before starting, a gentle alert:<br>
<blockquote>If you are looking for a universal, prescriptive,
black-and-white, yes/no type of "answer", you're probably not going to
find it anywhere on this topic. This issue has been discussed and
debated in referee circles for many years, ever since the revisions to
the FIFA Laws of
the Game and USSF Advice to Referees began in the mid 1990s.
There still appears to be no universal consensus.<br>
</blockquote>
<u><b>In general: referees should recognize this foul.</b></u><br>
<br>
When the ball was last kicked by a teammate of the goalkeeper, and
especially when that "last kick" was clear to most/all participants
(players, referee team, sidelines, goalkeeper), the goalkeeper may not
use his or her hands to play the ball. This <i>includes </i>"passes
back to the keeper" but is not <i>limited to </i>"passes ... to the
keeper".<br>
<br>
Example:<br>
<blockquote>A defender collects the ball in the goal area very near the
goal line. That defender then attempts to clear the ball. The
defender's kick is weak, the ball is wet and heavy, and the grass is
long, so the ball rolls out only to the general vicinity of the penalty
mark (i.e. approximately the 12 yard line). The attacking forwards
immediately begin running toward the ball. Can the goalkeeper run over
and take possession of the ball with his hands (after the kick by his
teammate, before any attacker plays the ball)?<br>
</blockquote>
The current and evolving guidance of the USSF law interpreters and
referee instructors is "no". The goalkeeper obviously may attempt to <i>play
</i>such a ball (e.g. may attempt to kick the ball away). But when the
defender' kick is reasonably deliberate and controlled (not a shanked
kick or a deflection), and the ball ends up somewhere in the penalty
area, then the keeper may not use his hands to play this ball. If the
keeper does use his hands, the keeper has violated law 12; the referee
should recognize the foul and award an IFK to the attacking team.<br>
<br>
<b><u>Don't try to split (too many) hairs</u></b><br>
<blockquote>There is a scrum of defenders and attackers who are
actively competing for the ball. The ball pops out of the melee, then
the goalkeeper dives down and grabs the ball.<br>
<br>
Are referees expected to use slow-motion instant replay to determine
that the ball was actually last kicked (deliberately and in a
controlled manner) by a teammate? And not touched or
deflected by an attacker before the keeper used his hands to play the
ball? And that the goalkeeper is also able to make that same
determination?<br>
</blockquote>
No!<br>
<br>
If the referee is able to clearly judge, <i>and also can expect the
goalkeeper to be able to judge</i>, that:<br>
<blockquote>- the ball was last kicked by a defender<br>
- the kick which sent the ball to where the keeper is able to play the
ball was deliberate and controlled<br>
</blockquote>
then by all means call the foul.<br>
<br>
However, and more likely in this second scenario, the referee would
judge that the kick was less than fully controlled, or that any law
violation was doubtful and trifling, and that the players are playing
within the spirit of the game, clearly not wasting time. Hence, the
referee would not call a foul.<br>
<br>
More comments about "playing in the spirit of the game":<br>
<br>
<div>The instructions that accompanied the text changes
in the 1997 <i>Laws of the Game</i> said (in part): "There is no
change to the interpretation, the Spirit
of the Game remains."</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>That spirit suggests that unless it is obvious that </div>
<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>a)
the ball was last played by a teammate in a deliberate kick<br>
and<br>
</div>
<div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>b)
the goalkeeper had a reasonable option of playing the ball with the
foot, </div>
<div>then no foul should be called. <br>
</div>
<br>
<u><b>Age, skill, level of competition adjustments</b></u><br>
<br>
The discussion above presumes at least a moderately sophisticated
understanding of the laws of the game by the players, in particular by
the goalkeeper.<br>
<br>
The referee community involved in these discussions felt that referees
should expect AYSO players and keepers at U14, U16, and U19 to already
possess, or
to quickly learn, a sufficiently sophisticated level of understanding
of this aspect of the law.<br>
<br>
However, at U8, U10, often at U12 (and possibly even at U14),
goalkeepers are typically not yet "position players". The player may
have
been dragooned into the keeper jersey for the first time that very
morning. The lack of a suitable level of understanding of the law may
be assumed or may be immediately obvious to the referee. It is
appropriate for the referee, in such matches at younger divisions, to
help the players (especially the keeper) to develop his or her
understanding of the law. For example, the referee may choose to
verbally warn the keeper on the first (or first several) occurrences
("Keeper, you may not pick up the ball when your teammate was the last
one to kick it to you") and only progress to calling the foul if the
violation is repeated in spite of such efforts at coaching.<br>
<br>
Many referees of youth games, especially in AYSO, enforce this law with
a verbal warning especially on the first offense and particularly in
younger divisions.<br>
<font color="#000000"><span
style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"></span></font><br>
<u><b>Referee Communication:</b></u><br>
<br>
If it seems appropriate, the referee may signal "no foul" to show
everyone (players, ARs, sidelines) that he recognized the situation and
made a decision about how to deal with it.<br>
<br>
<u><b>Further reading:</b></u><br>
<br>
For examples of other discussions about the appropriate exercise of
referee judgement when applying this particular clause of the law., see
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://asktheref.com">http://asktheref.com</a>
threads 20164, 21451, and
21477.<br>
<br>
If you want even more, just try a Google search for "pass back to the
keeper". <span class="moz-smiley-s3"><span> ;-) </span></span><br>
<br>
=========================<br>
<br>
Applying these observations and guidelines to the specific scenario
that Eric described below, the foul / IFK call was exactly correct.<br>
<br>
Beau<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:e.hamilton@comcast.net">e.hamilton@comcast.net</a>
wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:2077240345.2477261254346724704.JavaMail.root@sz0035a.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net"
type="cite">
<style type="text/css">p { margin: 0; }</style>
<div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
<p>Hi all,</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I won't be able to attend tonight since I'm out of town on a
business trip. This situation came up in a game that I AR'd this past
weekend so I'll be interested in understanding the interpretation and
application of this part of the advice to referrees, particuarly
section b of the Note.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Here's what I saw (as I recall it now):</p>
<p> </p>
<p>* I was positioned near 15-18 alongside the 2nd last defender</p>
<p>* Ball was in play near middle of field width around 25 yards or
so from goal.</p>
<p>* Defender was in middle of field around 15 from goal.</p>
<p>* Goalie was around 5-10 yards from goal, also near middle of
width (maybe slightly closer to me).</p>
<p>* Ball was kicked along ground towards goal, goalie, and defender.</p>
<p>* Defender was moving forward towards ball and away from goal</p>
<p>* Goalie was charging towards ball.</p>
<p>* When ball and defender were near 18, goalie was around 16 and
starting to get low to ball, defender clearly (to me at least) plays
the ball toward the keeper with a slight direction change using a
textboot inside of the foot pass towards the goalie.</p>
<p>* Bang-bang goalie picks the ball up, looking surprised.</p>
<p>* I raised my flag and CR whistled and awarded IFK.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Reading the Advice, I do believe that the defender intentionally
played it towards the keeper. I do not feel that they intended to
timewaste-- unless one takes the view that any play back to the goalie
is a time waste and that's clearly not the intent of the advice. I
discussed what I saw after the game with other refs (without specific
reference to this Advice) and it seems that others would have raised
the flag too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So here are the questions I would ask tonight if I were in town:</p>
<p>* If the call is situational and not applicable here because it
was bang-bang, where is the threshold at which it becomes a foul?</p>
<p>* Does it ever become a foul if it isn't timewasting?</p>
<p>* What if a player wants to kick it back to the keeper not as a
timewasting but because a punt is much stronger? (That seems wrong
too).</p>
<p>* Why is b) a NOTE to Advice, not even in the Advice or rules
itself?</p>
<p>* If the foul is only timewasting, should only the CR and not the
AR call it? (assuming CR has asked ARs for help with fouls).</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If someone can summarize the outcome of tonight's discussion, I
think it will be helpful to many of us.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Eric Hamilton</p>
<p> </p>
<p>----- Original Message -----<br>
From: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:AYSO45@aol.com">AYSO45@aol.com</a><br>
To: <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:ayso45-refs@ayso45.org">ayso45-refs@ayso45.org</a><br>
Sent: Saturday, September 26, 2009 10:43:34 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada
Pacific<br>
Subject: [ayso45-refs] USSF Advice to Referees: 12.20 BALL KICKED TO
THE GOALKEEPER<br>
<br>
The following is taken from the USSF 2007 Advice to Referees. For the
complete 79 page document, please visit:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.ussoccer.com/Referees/Laws-of-the-Game.aspx">http://www.ussoccer.com/Referees/Laws-of-the-Game.aspx</a>
12.20 BALL
KICKED TO THE GOALKEEPER A goalkeeper infringes Law 12 if he or she
touches the ball with the hands directly after it has been deliberately
kicked to him or her by a teammate. The requirement that the ball be
kicked means only that it has been played with the foot. The
requirement that the ball be "kicked to" the goalkeeper means only that
the play is to or toward a place where the ‘keeper can legally handle
the ball. The requirement that the ball be "deliberately kicked" means
that the play on the ball is deliberate and does not include situations
in which the ball has been, in the opinion of the referee, accidentally
deflected or misdirected. NOTE: (a) The goalkeeper is permitted to
dribble into the penalty area and then pick up any ball played legally
(not kicked deliberately to the goalkeeper or to a place where the
goalkeeper can easily play it) by a teammate or played in any manner by
an opponent. (b) This portion of the Law was written to help referees
cope with timewasting tactics by teams, not to punish players who are
playing within the Spirit of the Game. We will discuss this on
Wednesday night... scott <br>
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