Question Number: 23804

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/21/2010

RE: Under 15

emmanuel nevarez of Redwood city, California United States asks...

today the ref called two calls wrong first he said there was a penalty in our box when it hit my hand (the goalie) and then when he called it i stopped then their player came up and kicked it in and the ref counted it (the two things were directly in next to each other what happens does it@ count

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

Did the ref blow the whistle? Then play has stopped. If the ref made an error and discovered that indeed you the goalkeeper had played the ball with your hand, play has to be restarted with a dropped ball for the inadvertent whistle. The referee cannot do an Emily Litella and say, 'Nevermind ...'

Answer provided by Referee Michelle Maloney

Oh, dear. Let's see - one has to assume the referee blew his whistle for the offense against you, the keeper. Are you sure it was for deliberately handling the ball? If so, then the referee was gravely mistaken, as the keeper cannot be called for deliberately handling the ball within his or her own penalty area.

If it was for some other offense which would have been an indirect free kick, the other team may be entitled to take a quick free kick, in which case the goal would count.

Now, if the offense the referee called was not deliberately handling the ball, but was a DFK offense, play cannot restart without a whistle, because this would be a PK offense, having happened inside your penalty area.

I would recommend speaking to the assignor of referees for this league and visiting with him or her about what happened, so the referee can be contacted and perhaps given some correctional instruction.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Emmanuel
All referees know that a goalkeeper cannot be guilty of a deliberate handling inside the penalty area.
When the referee stops play to award a penalty the ball is placed on the penalty mark and when the goalkeeper is properly positioned on the goal line with all the players outside the penalty area and the taker identified he/she signals for the penalty to be taken.
As to whether it counted or not that is signaled during the game. If your team restarted play with a kick off then the goal most definitely did count.
The matter can be appealed to the league if the referee made an error in Law.