Every now and then, all referees
find themselves faced with a situation on the field of play they
haven't experienced before. The only thing they can do, is to
summon up their knowledge of the laws, make the best decision
they can, and hope that it is the right one.
The referee of the recent
Southern League meeting between Bedworth and Yate Town found
himself in an unusual but not unknown situation and I am
indebted to Richard Highfield for sending me the newspaper
report.
It seems that one of the
Bedworth's defenders deliberately kicked the ball back to his
goalkeeper but lobbed it a little too high. The goalkeeper
realised that the only way to prevent the ball sneaking under
the cross bar for an own goal, was to reach up and catch it. The
goalkeeper knew he had committed an offence of course, a
goalkeeper is not allowed to handle a ball which has been
deliberately kicked to him by a member of his own team. He was
fully prepared for an indirect free kick to be awarded to Yate
Town but what shocked him, was when the referee showed him the
red card and sent him off.
Even the Yate Town manager was
perplexed until the referee explained his decision at the end of
the game. The referee told him that he had sent the goalkeeper
off for a professional foul. 'He shouldn't have handled the ball
and in that situation had to be treated like any other outfield
player. By catching the ball he prevented Yate from scoring a
goal. He was the last man and as such, had to go'. 'We were all
mystified,' said the Yate manager, 'and the goalkeeper had no
idea why he had been sent off but when the referee explained the
ruling, it made sense".
Ignoring the comments about
'professional foul' and 'last man', neither of which are
mentioned in the laws, it certainly seems to make sense. But
looked at closer, this incident doesn't quite seem to be covered
in the Laws of the Game. Under Law 12 it says a player is sent
off 'if he denies the opposing team a goal by deliberately
handling a ball', but it does have the proviso, 'this does not
apply to the goalkeeper in his own penalty area'.
This is really aimed at outfield
players deliberately preventing a goal by handling the ball and
there is nothing to suggest that it also applies to a
goalkeeper, even if his handling is an offence. The other
sending off offence that might have a bearing, is 'denying an
obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent who is moving
towards the player's goal, by an offence punishable by a free
kick or a penalty'.
A goal was denied by a free kick
offence but an opponent didn't come into it on this occasion,
the goalkeeper was preventing an own goal. This clause is really
for players who bring down, or baulk an opponent, who seems
likely to score.
To get the real answer we need to
go to another book from FA Learning entitled, 'Advice on the
Application of the Laws of the Game' and which, sadly, the FA
does not provide to every referee. In it, it covers the case of
a deliberate kick to the goalkeeper being prevented going in the
goal by the goalkeeper handling the ball. It agrees that the
game is restarted with an indirect free kick but goes on to say
that 'further action could be taken against the goalkeeper. His
action in intervening could be construed as unsporting
behaviour'. So although it doesn't spell it out in detail, what
we are told is that the goalkeeper should have been cautioned
but not sent off. In hindsight the referee was wrong but it is
easy to see why it made sense at the time.