The call for 'hand ball' is a common cry from players, spectators and coaches alike. This week’s Ask the Ref looks at the issue of handball.

Let’s clarify something first. Law 12 of the FIFA Laws of the Game states that it is an offence if a player "handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within their own penalty area)" This means that is not a foul if the ball accidentally touches or hits a player's hand. It is only a foul if the player intentionally handles the ball. Therefore, all of those times that a player kicks the ball straight into a player's hand or the ball bounces on an uneven pitch (and there are plenty of those in the Hills) and hits a player’s arm, these are not fouls and should not be called.
Nowhere in the Laws of the Game does it say anything about it being a foul if the player whose hand or arm the ball has touched gains an advantage. In other words, even if the ball were to hit a player's arm and drop right at his feet or even if it were to go directly into his opponents' goal, these are not fouls if the handball is unintentional. As recently as 1996 FIFA specifically changed the laws to make it very clear that it is only a foul if the player handles the ball deliberately.

A throw-in is a method of restarting play. A throw-in is awarded to the opponents of the player who last touched the ball when the whole of the ball crosses the touchline, either on the ground or in the air.

A goal cannot be scored directly from a throw-in.

This week we are looking at the topical subject of when the ball is in and out of play.

The ball is out of play when it has wholly crossed the goal line or touch line whether on the ground or in the air and when the play has been stopped by the referee.

The ball is in play at all other times, including when it rebounds off a goalpost, crossbar or corner flag post and remains in the field of play or if it rebounds off either the referee or the volunteer running the line when they are on the field of play.

Why do referees call off games?

Upon arrival at a ground, usually at least 30 minutes prior to kick off, the appointed referee assesses the condition of the pitch and decides whether it is safe to play or not. Safety of the players is the main factor. In the Hills the main issue is usually water, although there are other issues that can develop.

Waterlogged pitches

The Hills referees are told that if pools of standing water are present then games cannot reasonably be played safely. Excessively muddy grounds can also make a pitch unplayable. Other factors are large holes or deep divots, exposed drainage or sprinkling systems (all trip hazards). The referee will consult with other officials but in the end it is their call as to whether a pitch is safe to play on or not.

Now, let’s look at the goalkeeper.

Firstly, once the goalkeeper has possession of the ball from active play, they have only 6 seconds to distribute the ball into play. Kicking it or throwing it to a teammate can distribute the ball, or the goalkeeper can drop the ball at their feet and it is deemed to be in play from then on. If the goalkeeper holds the ball for more than six seconds it is an Indirect Free Kick (IFK) to the opposition taken from where the goalkeeper was at the time of the infringement. Most referees will undertake a silent count as soon as the keeper has the ball and if the keeper has not released the ball on the count of six and is not in mid-step to release the ball then they will blow for an IFK.

The pass back or back-pass refers to two clauses within Law 12 of the Laws of the Game.

These clauses prohibit the goalkeeper from intentionally handling the ball when a teammate uses his/her feet to intentionally pass the ball to them, or from intentionally handling the ball when receiving it directly from a throw-in.

The goalkeeper is still permitted to use his feet and other body parts to redirect the ball. Conversely, if an outfield player passes the ball back using any part of the body besides the feet (ie uses their head, chest or other body part), the keeper may pick up the ball.

This week, being part 2, we are continuing to look at Fouls and Misconduct, and will conclude by looking at the issues of Persistent Infringements of the Laws of the Game, Playing Advantage and generally comment on whether football (soccer) is a contact or non-contact sport.

Fouls and Misconduct Part 2

Persistent Infringement and the Roadblocks technique
In the AHJSRA we have adopted the nationwide Roadblocks technique to manage players and infringements on the field. What this system does is encourage referees to slowly build up the level of their warnings to players. Have you ever been on the sideline watching a game and seen a player commit a foul and after a word from the referee the play is simply restarted with a DFK, and then five minutes later a different player commits a similar foul and gets a YC. Yes? The ‘referee’s inconsistent ‘is the usual cry, although other more colourful language is more than often used yeah? Well, what you might be witnessing is the correct use of the Roadblocks system. This is where the referee detects that a player may be headed for trouble, either tackling recklessly but just getting away with it or mumbling sweet nothings to those within earshot about how well the referee is not running the game, constantly tripping opponents, etc. Well, the referee would have had words with the player, a quiet word at first, possibly hardly noticeable to anyone else even other players.

The start of the game
A coin is tossed. Traditionally the Away team calls head or tails. The team that wins the toss decides which goal it will attack in the first half of the match. The other team takes the kick-off to start the first half of the match and the team that has won the toss takes the kick-off to start the second half of the match. In the second half of the match the teams change ends and attack the opposite goals.

Welcome to the next edition of Ask the Ref, the Adelaide Hills Referee Branch’s bulletin on the rules of the great game.

This week we are running the bulletin in two parts. We are tackling (forgive the pun) the vexed issue of fouls, misconduct, red and yellow cards, playing advantage and much more. So here goes,

Fouls and Misconduct -Part One

*The fouls and misconduct described*

A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game while the ball is in play, and they are: ‘kicks or attempts to kick an opponent’ (yes, you can be given a foul if you try and kick someone), ‘trips or attempts to trip an opponent’, ‘jumps at an opponent’, ‘charges an opponent’, ‘strikes or attempts to strike an opponent’, ‘pushes an opponent’, ‘tackles an opponent’, ‘holds an opponent’, ‘spits at an opponent’, ‘handles the ball deliberately’ (except for the GK within their own penalty area of course). For any of these offences a direct free kick (DFK) is awarded to the opposition to be taken from where the offence occurred, or a penalty kick if the offence occurred within the penalty area. The referee indicates a DFK is being awarded by pointing their arm in the direction that the team that is being awarded the free kick is attacking.

Hi all,

In this week’s Ask the Ref we have decided to concentrate on issues surrounding cup matches.

But before we do that, if you would like to get a quick guide to the offside rule visit the following link and spend five minutes watching the video. People who have watched it have given us great feedback http://www.dynamic-thought.com/OffsideClicketteLo.html.

Right, back to the cup round. The Association Cup is a knock out competition that requires a winner at the end of the game. This means that, if after the first two halves of normal time have been played the teams are equal on goals, according to the local AHJSA competition rules, a further 10 minutes each way is played (20 minutes of football in total). This is called extra time and is, in essence, a game in itself and the referee must toss a coin and allow the winner of the toss to choose the direction of play for the extra time period.

If, after extra time the teams are still tied the winner is decided by a series of penalty kicks. The referee chooses at which end the penalty kicks will take place. And the referee must again toss a coin and the winner chooses whether to go first or second in the shoot out.

Providing a club linesperson

During the competition each team is required to provide a linesperson to assist the centre referee. The referees are very grateful for any person who volunteers for this role. We know the sacrifice the volunteer is making is great, as they will now have to be an impartial neutral official of the game rather than being a supporter and fan for the team.

Click Here to Download the full document (with images).

As usual please distribute this bulletin as widely as possible through your club contacts and networks. The aim of this bulletin is to reach those who know nothing about the game so that they may learn and grow to enjoy the game as a result – oh yeah, and the referees always like it when the spectators have any idea of what’s going on during the game and why decisions are being made the way they are, so we do have an ulterior motive.

Past Ask the Ref bulletins can be found on the AHJSA website.

Here goes:

The start of the game

A coin is tossed. Traditionally the Away team calls head or tails. The team that wins the toss decides which goal it will attack in the first half of the match. The other team takes the kick-off to start the match and the team that has won the toss takes the kick-off to start the second half of the match. In the second half of the match the teams change ends and attack the opposite goals.

Persistent Infringement and the Roadblocks technique

In the AHJSRA we have adopted the nationwide Roadblocks technique to manage players and infringements on the field. What this system does is encourage referees to slowly build up the level of their warnings to players. Have you ever been on the sideline watching a game and seen a player commit a foul and after a word from the referee the play is simply restarted with a DFK, and then five minutes later a different player commits a similar foul and gets a YC. Yes? The ‘referee’s inconsistent ‘is the usual cry, although other more colourful language is more than often used yeah? Well, what you might be witnessing is the correct use of the Roadblocks system. This is where the referee detects that a player may be headed for trouble, either tackling recklessly but just getting away with it or mumbling sweet nothings to those within earshot about how well the referee is not running the game, constantly tripping opponents, etc. Well, the referee would have had words with the player, a quiet word at first, possibly hardly noticeable to

anyone else even other players.

The fouls and misconduct described

A foul occurs when a player commits an offence listed in Law 12 of the Laws of the Game while the ball is in play, and they are: ‘kicks or attempts to kick an opponent’ (yes, you can be given a foul if you 'try' to kick someone), ‘trips or attempts to trip an opponent’, ‘jumps at an opponent’ (watch out for that jumping-in on the player you younger players), ‘charges an opponent’ (no credit cards please), ‘strikes or attempts to strike an opponent’ (our younger referees agree that teachers' strikes are acceptable!), ‘pushes an opponent’, ‘tackles an opponent’, ‘holds an opponent’, ‘spits at an opponent’, ‘handles the ball deliberately’ (except for the GK within their own penalty area of course). For any of these offences a direct free kick (DFK) is awarded to the opposition to be taken from where the offence occurred, or a penalty kick if the offence occurred within the penalty area. The referee indicates a DFK by pointing their arm in the direction that the team that is being awarded the free kick is attacking.

Thanks for all the positive feedback regarding the Ask the Ref emails. It is heartening to know that clubs are obviously distributing the emails widely through their networks – well done.

This week’s Ask the Ref looks at the role of the goalkeeper (GK) and the specific rules for GKs.

Firstly, once the GK has possession of the ball from active play, they have only 6 seconds to distribute the ball into play. Kicking it or throwing it to a teammate can distribute the ball, or the GK can drop the ball at their feet and it is deemed to be in play from then on. If the GK holds the ball for more than six seconds it is an Indirect Free Kick (IFK) to the opposition taken from where the GK was at the time of the infringement. I myself, start a silent count as soon as the keeper has the ball, ‘one-one thousand, etc’, if the keeper has not released the ball on the count of six and is not in mid-step to release it then I blow for the IFK.

The pass-back or back pass refers to two clauses within Law 12 of the Laws of the Game.

These clauses prohibit the goalkeeper from intentionally handling the ball when a teammate uses his/her feet to intentionally pass them the ball, or from intentionally handling the ball when receiving directly from a throw-in.

The goalkeeper is still permitted to use his feet and other body parts to redirect the ball. Conversely, if an outfield player passes the ball back using any part of the body besides the feet, the keeper may pick up the ball. Unintentional pass or touch is not considered as an offence. For example, if a defender attempts to clear the ball but it is deflected towards the keeper or is miss-kicked and the keeper picks it up, this is unintentional and is okay.

For the third Ask the Ref we have taken on the mighty challenge of explaining what offside is.

However, we are copping out a bit and going to ask you to click this link http://www.dynamic-thought.com/OffsideClicketteLo.html and watch a four-minute dynamic presentation of the offside rule. Those people who have watched this have said that the light goes off and they magically and finally understand what everyone has been going on about all season. Even if you 'think' you know the offside rule, please take a look at the dynamic demonstration, at the very least you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you had it right all along!

Our first Ask the Ref is about handball.

Do you hear the call 'hand ball' from spectators, players and even coaches every time the ball hits a player's hand or arm?

First of all, unbeknownst to many, there is no such rule as "hand ball." In reality, Law XII states that it is illegal if a player "handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area)" This means that is not a foul if the ball touches a player's hand. It is only a foul if the player intentionally handles the ball. Therefore, all of those times that a defender kicks the ball right into a player's hand or the ball bounces up and hits an arm, these are not fouls and should not be called.