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Goalkeeper playing the ball a second time after a restart

A goalkeeper playing the ball a second time after a restart. How do you need to handle as referee? What is the correct disciplinary action? All you need to know in this case study.

Goalkeeper playing the ball a second time after a restart

The incident

AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper takes a goalkick, but it goes very short. Because his team-mate doesn’t pay attention, the goalkeeper goes to the ball. He sees an attacker coming and touches the ball for a second time.

Want to see a clip? The clip starts straight at the goal-kick. Otherwise scroll to 2m22s.

Referee Danny Makkelie whistles

Referee Danny Makkelie sees the situation and whistles, because this is not allowed. Goalkeeper Marco Bizot tells Fox Sports that he “had the intention to stop the ball on the goal area line”. He continues: “But I touched it with my foot, so it looked like I already took the goal kick”.

Love to hear your thoughts if you agree with the goalkeeper or that the goalkeeper took the goal kick there? You can vote in the Twitter poll, below that there’ll be a Laws of the Game explanation.

Laws of the Game on a goalkeeper playing the ball a second time

There’s actually a Laws of the Game 2020-2021 change that deals with situations like this.

“If the offence is playing the ball a second time (with or without the hand/arm) after a restart before it touches another player, the goalkeeper must be sanctioned if the offence stops a promising attack or denies an opponent or the opposing team a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.”

In this case Danny Makkelie judged it as stopping a promising attack and showed the goalkeeper a yellow card.

I hope you learned what to do when if a goalkeeper playing the ball a second time after a restart. Check all the case studies on my blog. Good luck with your games!

6 Comments

  • City Gent

    He clearly didn’t mean to take it like he did. Surely it’s easier to sell as ‘accidental’ and re-take than make the judgement that was made and presumably it got a lot of TV coverage in Holland?

    • Jan ter Harmsel

      the general idea was: that was not so smart from the goalkeeper, as it seems clear that he stops the ball with the hand and then kicks it.

  • Jason Green

    If the referee deems the second touch as the denial of an obvious goal scoring opportunity then I get it is a red card, but I have some hesitation on the restart. It seems to me it is still an indirect free kick. Nothing in the laws makes it a penalty kick just because the second touch offense is inside the box right?

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