I had a situation where an offensive player was dribbling from his own half into the attacking one, and a defender kicked the ball in a clear effort to clear the ball from the attacking player (who, I must remind you, was right near the half line. Certainly not in a threatening position.). The defender kicked it high in the air on a defensive volley (keep in mind this is not inside his own half) so that it was obviously never intended to go to the keeper. The keeper picked it up, and I didn't call it, because it was clear to me that the player had no intention of kicking it to his penalty area- he we simply trying to get it away from the offensive player. Tell me this isn't an indirect free kick simply because the defender "intentionally" kicked it, and the keeper picked it up. I'm fairly sure I was right in this one. I just want it to be confirmed by others.
First of all thank you. In that game the ref actually let our keeper do exactly that, then at the urging of the opposing GKwho was sure it was illegal ruled it illegal for the remainder of the game. Secondly where can this ATR be found? I looked on FIFA website and have had no luck. Am I looking in the wrong place? Thanks again!
I beg to differ. The LOTG say "deliberately kicked to him [the goalkeeper] by a teammate." In the scenario described, the ball was deliberately kicked, but it was not deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper. The LOTG do not say deliberately kicked "to an area where the keeper may handle it," which is how you seem to be interpreting the rule. Ball must be deliberately kicked to the goalkeeper. Since it wasn't, no foul.
You can argue the semantics of how the letter of the is written, but the spirit of the law is that a keeper may not handle the ball in his PA after being kicked there by a teammate. With your interpretation, I could claim that I was deliberately kicking the ball to the corner of the PA, not to the keeper, and he just happened to then pick the ball up. Since I didn't deliberately kick it to him, it can't be an infringement. The letter of the law isn't written very well, no big secret there. The only questions you have to answer are 1) Did the teammate deliberately kick the ball, and it goes into the PA? If yes, then 2) Did the goalkeeper pick it up? If yes, IFK for the opponent. Nothing too complicated with this call!
You can beg, but that won't change the result if the official is of the opinion that the ball was deliberately kicked "to him." A common mistake is to read the laws too literally and without consideration of the SOG. This is why in the US, we have the USSF ATR which has the same force as the LOTG for USSF affiliated games (which uses the explanation given by refjoe). Refereejoe’s right on the money! Ultimately, it’s ITOOTR.
The spirit of the law is to prevent time wasting. If it is iffy (the ball was kicked to an area the 'keeper could reach, but not directly to him) then the ref is justified in not making the call if in his opinion time wasting not a factor.
I would argue that the original spirit was to prevent time wasting, but that the expectation behind the law has now evolved. You're right that if it is doubtful it should not be called, as with anything. It doesn't erase the point that referees should not get too caught up on if the pass was kicked deliberately to the keeper, or deliberately kicked and then handled by the keeper. If it's kicked deliberately, and the keeper handles it, it's an infringement whether time wasting is the motivation or not.
I am a player not a ref, but just wanted to comment that I don't understand why some of the refs here have such difficult time with the notion of "intent" when it comes to passing the ball. There will once in a while be some gray areas perhaps, but certainly you can tell 9 out of 10 times whether a player "intended" the ball to go to the goalkeeper, or the ball ended going toward goalkeeper's direction by deflection or accident. If you can't tell, perhaps you should think twice about refereeing. I've been playing for over 20 years and don't remember a time when it was unclear whether a player meant to pass the ball back to the keeper or not.
So can we. In those cases, the call (or no call) is easy and nobody gripes. There's nothing to talk about there. In the referee forums we talk about the gray areas all the time because that is where we earn our pay.
Your point is well taken; I suppose in the context of this particular thread I simply don't see any gray areas but see a lot of hair splitting over an obvious issue: did a player mean to pass the ball to the goalkeeper or not. I can't imagine a scenario where there would be a question as to whether the ball was played for the goalie to intercept it. If there is ANY doubt, don't call it. End of story, end of thread.
Soon after the pass-back law was added, I was doing a high level boys game. On a break away, the defender and the attacker were racing for the ball. The defender kicked the ball away from the attacker and it went to the keeper who was coming out towards the play. The keeper picked it up, and I called for an IFK. I got some complaints from the defense that it wasn't a pass, but that's what it looked like to me! It's the type of play where intent on the defender was not entirely clear, but the result of his play could be observed. I still remember the play even though I can't remember if the defender slid or was upright. This is definitely a gray area. I also remember a much less skilled JV Girls game. A defender just outside the penalty area tried to clear a high bouncing ball down field. Her keeper had to run back to the far post and make a jumping save to keep the ball out of the upper 90! Probably the best save I've seen at that level! The attackers suggested a pass-back. "NO, I don't think that was an intentional pass!"
Jim Allen has put forth several relevant USSF positions on this issue. Unfortunately I haven't had the time to research it, but here was one official USSF answer (11/13/01): "You are correct that the rule against the goalkeeper picking up or touching a ball deliberately kicked to him...has certain "technical" requirements that must be met: the ball must have been kicked (i. e., played with the foot); the kick must have been deliberate, rather than a miskick, an attempt to clear, an accidental deflection or a misdirection; the ball must have been directed (i. e., clearly played deliberately, as above) to a place where the goalkeeper could pick it up; and the goalkeeper must play the ball with his hands before an infringement has occurred. The rule against the 'keeper picking up the deliberately kicked ball is intended to prevent time wasting and thus, fairly obviously, to increase the time the ball is available for either team to use in an attack on the opponents' goal. The call is always in the opinion and at the discretion of the referee, who is the only person capable of making the judgment as to the deliberateness of the kick. One bit of advice that might be useful for dealing with a possible infringement is to paraphrase the instruction given to assistant referees on whether to flag for offside ("If in doubt, don't flag") and then apply it to this situation: "If in doubt, don't call it." In other words, if there is any doubt in the referee's mind as to the deliberateness of the pass, then common sense should prevail and the supposed infringement should not be called. " Another answer also said that "miskicks or desperation clearances or slices at the ball do not count as "deliberate" plays of the ball" (5/99). The one answer I am still looking for (although it may have been in a private correspondence) addressed the issue of an attacker and defender running side by side perhaps 30 yards from the goal as the attacker heads towards goal with the ball. If the defender then "deliberately" kicks the ball away from the attacker with no real attempt to kick it in any specific direction (ITOOTR) and it goes in the direction of the goalkeeper, then it would not be an offense for the GK to pick it up.