The below list of Questions and Answers is taken from the April news letter of the Corsham Ref which is a Refereeing newsletter edited by Julian Carosi whose work I would like to acknowledge here
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Question: A goalkeeper picks up the ball in his hands and then runs to the edge of his penalty area. As he does so, he bounces the ball on the ground, catches it again into his hands and then kicks it high up into the air towards the other end of the field. Has the goalkeeper committed an offence by releasing (bouncing) the ball and then touching it a second time with his hands before another player has touched it?
Answer: In the spirit of the Law, the goalkeeper would not be regarded as having released the ball from his possession. Therefore, no offence has occurred and play should be allowed to continue uninterrupted.
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Question: Is playing in a dangerous manner still punished with the award of an indirect free kick, if a defender in his/her own penalty area committed the offence?
Answer: Playing in a dangerous manner is not a penal offence, it is known as a technical offence. Therefore, if a player plays in a dangerous manner, the restart is always an indirect free kick, to be taken at the place where the incident occurred - wherever that may be on the field of play.
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Question: As a goalkeeper, I kicked the ball out of my hands from within in my penalty area at the end of the 90 minutes. The ball was in mid-air and being wind assisted towards the opposing team's goalkeeper. The ball went over the advancing goalkeeper, who could only watch as it went over him, and into the goal.
The referee blew his whistle as the ball was in mid flight and disallowed the goal.
Should the goal have been allowed?
Answer: So long as no other Laws infringement had occurred, or the 90 minutes had not yet been completed, there is nothing in the Laws to prevent a goalkeeper from scoring a goal as described.
If the 90 minutes ends as the ball is on its way towards the goal, then the game has finished. This is what probably happened in your game.
There is nothing in the Laws to permit a Referee to add on time to allow the ball to complete its journey, if the initial kick occurred just before the end of the game.
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Question: If a player is continually offside therefore persistently infringing Laws of the Game, can you caution him?
Answer: There is a right way and a wrong way to play football, and if Referees fail to protect the required standards, the game will fall into disrepute
Being offside is no more of an offence than the ball being kicked out for a throw-in. Therefore, you would not necessarily be able to caution for 'persistent infringement' (because no offence had occurred).
Nevertheless, our old saviour 'unsporting conduct' will fit the bill perfectly!! Players that purposefully play in a way that is against 'the spirit of the game' can (and should) be cautioned under Law 12 'unsporting behaviour'.
If a team used this unsporting tactic, then the Referee should call the team Captain over to him, and tell him in no uncertain terms, that if their team's continuous offside tactics were being done purposefully to spoil the game, then each perpetrator could be cautioned for 'unsporting behaviour' (especially if the team were using this tactic to waste time).
The Captain should also be warned that this behaviour (if it continues) would be reported to the appropriate League or Football authorities.
If the coach or manger is encouraging his players to waste time towards the end of the game by intentionally getting penalised for being offside as many times as they can, the Referee should have a quiet word with the coach/manger and warn him that if this irresponsible enticement continues, he will be asked to leave the near vicinity of the field of play and reported to the appropriate authorities.
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Question: I gave a dangerous play decision within the penalty area the other week, and restarted with an indirect free kick. Correct in Law now I know, but only if the offence was dangerous play.
A defender tried to clear a high bouncing ball within his penalty area with a high kicking foot, however an attacker beat him to the ball with his head and took the kick in the face. Should this have been a foul and thus a penalty kick?
I gave dangerous play. Was I right??
Answer: The advice in the Law book is as follows.
Playing in a dangerous manner is defined as any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player himself). It is committed with an opponent nearby and prevents the opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury.
The action becomes an offence only when an opponent is adversely affected.
A scissors or bicycle kick is permissible provided that, in the opinion of the referee, it is not dangerous to an opponent.
Playing in a dangerous manner involves no physical contact between the players. If there is physical contact, the action becomes an offence punishable with a direct free kick or penalty kick. In case of physical contact, the referee should carefully consider the high probability that misconduct has also been committed.
Disciplinary sanctions:
If a player plays in a dangerous manner in a "normal" challenge, the referee should not take any disciplinary action.
If the action is made with obvious risk of injury, the referee should caution the player.
If a player denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity playing in a dangerous manner, the referee should send off the player.
Restart of play:
Indirect free kick from the position where the offence occurred
If there is contact, a different offence has been committed, punishable by a direct free kick or penalty kick.
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Question: During the taking of a penalty 'shoot out' kick, the ball strikes the crossbar and then hits the goalkeeper on the back of the head and enters the net. The Referee allows the goal to stand. Is the Referee correct, and is this a valid goal?
Answer: Yes, it is a valid goal.
Before the re-write of the Laws in 1997/1998, the following advice was included in the Laws of Associated Football chapter 'Kicks from the penalty mark'.
If, at the taking of kicks from the penalty mark, or when extended time is being allowed for a penalty kick to be taken in normal playing time, the ball strikes the goal-post or cross-bar, strikes the goalkeeper and enters the goal, a goal shall be awarded.
In the current Law book, the following sentence is included in the 'Procedure to determine the winner of a match or home-and-away.'
Unless otherwise stated, the relevant Laws of the Game and International F.A. Board Decisions apply when kicks from the penalty mark are being taken.
This includes the current Law 14 Penalty Kick sentence which used to appear in the 1996/1997 Law books, a goal is awarded if the ball touches either or both of the goalposts and/or the crossbar, and/or the goalkeeper.
When a penalty is taken, it very often happens that the ball does rebound slightly back into play and then back into the goal. There is nothing wrong with this, and never has been. It is the nature of the penalty kick and that these things do, and will happen.
Where no infringement has occurred, if a ball rebounds onto the goalkeeper, and then crosses completely over the goal line between the goalposts and under the crossbar, it is a legal goal.
The momentum of the kick is the crucial point here. No matter how many combinations of goalpost, crossbar, goalkeeper's body parts etc are involved, if the ball ends up in the goal because of the energy imparted onto it by the kicker's boot, a goal should be allowed.