Question Number: 23708

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 7/27/2010

RE: Pick-Up Rec Adult

Mark of Armonk, New York USA asks...

I am a certified referee in a national youth league here. When I was trained, I was taught that aside from boys protecting their groins and girls protecting their chests, there is nothing in the way of a 'self-defense' exception to the law against handling the ball. An incident came up in a U14G game about a girl protecting her face. Consistent with my initial training, I always thought your choices were to duck or get hit but if you blocked the ball with your hands it was a foul. Because of a question that came out of the incident (I was not the referee but am in charge of our referees and a knowledgeable coach of the girl called for the infraction made inquiry of me) I made inquiry of the national director of refereeing for the organization who wrote as follows: 'Self defense is not a foul however DELIBERATE use of the hands to CONTROL the ball is a foul. Referees are charged with determining whether or not the contact of ball and hand was deliberate to control the ball or self protection. Coaches should not be teaching players to use their hands to control the ball unless they are goalkeepers or to take a throw-in. Female players who use their hands or arms to CONTROL a ball which is about to hit them in the chest are guilty of deliberately handling the ball. The same would be true for male players who used their hands or arms to CONTROL a ball which was about to hit them in the groin area.' I interpret this as meaning if the ball is coming at a sensitive area (face for all, groin for boys and chest for girls), where a hit cannot be avoided and hands are used to block the area (e.g., hands are immediately in front of face/groin/chest and not outstretched or used to push or redirect the ball) it is
not a foul. Now, switch settings. In a pick-up (non-league) adult game a defender at a close distance to an offensive player puts his hands in front of his face to protect himself from a fast, forceful pass that hits both his face and one hand. Foul or not?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mark
This question has troubled referees for many years. The test for me is whether the player could have avoided contact of the ball rather than moving the hand and arm to protect instinctively. If a ball is kicked at very short distance and the ball hits the player's hand or arm that is not deliberate handling. If say in the same situtaion the player instinctively raised an arm for protection then IMo that is not deliberate either and there is no infraction. However say a player rushes at the ball and knowing that the ball is going to be kicked at him raises his arms to protect that is deliberate handling. Also if the player has the opportunity to move out of the way of the ball but chooses not to and allows the ball to hit the arm/hand that again is deliberate handling and an offence.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

The US Soccer Federation advice on deliberate handling of the ball includes: 'Moving hands or arms instinctively to protect the body when
suddenly faced with a fast approaching ball does not constitute deliberate contact unless there is subsequent action to direct the ball once contact is made.'

The age and skill level of the players matter. In an GU14 match, no child is required to choose between a ball in the nose and a foul for deliberate handling. At higher levels of play, however, the players have learned how to disguise their control of the ball as it moves toward them.
Watch what they do after the ball hits the hand/arm and it often becomes apparent what is planned.

Note: high school rules differ, and this may have affected your initial training.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You were trained improperly and your National director should have pointed you to Advice or LOTG.

From Advice;

"Deliberate contact" means that the player
could have avoided the touch but chose not to, that the player's arms were not in a normal playing
position at the time, or that the player deliberately continued an initially accidental contact for the
purpose of gaining an unfair advantage. Moving hands or arms instinctively to protect the body when
suddenly faced with a fast approaching ball does not constitute deliberate contact unless there is
subsequent action to direct the ball once contact is made. Likewise, placing hands or arms to protect
the body at a free kick or similar restart is not likely to produce an infringement unless there is
subsequent action to direct or control the ball.


From LOTG:

Handling the ball
Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with
the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into
consideration:
• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an
infringement