NCAA has its own rules.
Law Changes - Goalkeeper 8-Sec
- Thread starter Lee Robert
- Start date
What did they do, back your day, when goalkeepers played with wooden gloves?
You mispelled "woolen".
Literally decided a top flight tournament game this past weekend in PA. Ref calls the 8 second rule with ~1 minute to play. Opposing coach goes ballistic that he didn't signal the 5-4-3-2-1 (which I think he was correct, but went way over the top arguing and gets a yellow). Team down 1-0 converts the corner to get the 1-1 tie. Coach loses his mind at the end of the game and gets a second yellow/red and -1 point due to tournament rules. Team that tied it up advances to the semifinals and eventually wins the top flight.
Soccer Dad & Ref
SILVER ELITE
Summer tournaments have told the refs to not use the 8-second rule yet, wait until fall season starts
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
We've had refs start the countdown for goalies already here in NorCal. Haven't seen anyone be called for it - but the countdown is providing a reminder; people are aware.
RandomSoccerFan
PREMIER
We had the same exact experience yesterday afternoon. Extra time is also explicitly not to be added here, other team was being ridiculous wasting time - ref seemed to add 4 min of extra time to account for it. For what it's worth, it seemed "fair" at the time, regardless of the text of the rules.
Lee Robert
SILVER
Hi Zeke,
From the Law Body, which is IFAB:
1. Why did the Law need to change? Referees were not enforcing the Law, and goalkeepers were holding the ball for much longer than six seconds to waste time and change the tempo of the match, especially when their team were winning. This led to frustration amongst players, coaches and fans.
2. Why were referees not enforcing the Law? Referees were seldom penalising goalkeepers for holding the ball for longer than six seconds, mainly because managing an indirect free kick in the penalty area is very difficult and usually disrupts the rhythm of the game more than the goalkeeper does by holding the ball for too long. Moreover, conceding an indirect free kick in the penalty area is a severe punishment, as it provides the opposition with a very good opportunity to score. The old Law was perceived as unfair and at odds with the corresponding offence, as the attacking team does not have possession or any chance of winning it when the ball is being held by the goalkeeper.
For the rest of the document:
Lee Robert
SILVER
Brav520, correct 7/1 is when the 2025/26 Law Change went into effect.
However it is up to the competition to decide which Laws are in place. Those leagues which started with 2024/25, like the MLS, will continue using the 2024/25 until the following season. Most youth tournaments do not state which, so it is all verbal.
For example here is Surf Cup:
RULES OF PLAY: FIFA Laws of the Game will apply as modified by USYSA and Cal South as described herein.
The rules should state the "Current Laws of the Game."
Bottom line I observed very few tournaments this year that were played under the 2025/26 Laws, which would give the soccer community and referees time to learn and apply them. The beginning of the Fall season will be, let's say interesting.
Lee Robert
SILVER
watfly, here is the official decision from the 2021/22 Law Change (Most current)
Main Law change: Law 12 – Fouls and Misconduct: handball
As the interpretation of handball incidents has not always been consistent due to incorrect applications of the Law, the members confirmed that not every touch of a player’s hand/arm with the ball is an offence. In terms of the criterion of the hand/arm making a player’s body “unnaturally bigger”, it was confirmed that referees should continue to use their judgment in determining the validity of the hand/arm’s position in relation to the player’s movement in that specific situation.
The circular goes on to provide more detail if you are interested:
Lee Robert
SILVER
PASoccer,
Have you read the tournament rules, very often the wording is ambiguous.
For example from the Surf Cup: "INJURY: Additional time will not be added to the game for injuries unless determined by event official. All games will be played on a running clock." Therefore the time is kept in accordance with the Laws of the Game 7.3 - Allowance for time lost.
As a referee, in many cases, we have to decide what is fair.
In a tournament, corner kick right before the half, goal is scored. Opposing coach is livid, stating that the time was over.
Tournament Rules "REGULATION MATCH LENGTH: The referee shall keep official time for each match." Now the parents have the halftime to get all worked up and they start to complain. Their team loses and although there was no harassment or threats, security escorted me to my car, just to be safe.
What did I learn? I should have shown the coach the rules, enlisted his help by informing the parents and spectators what the rule states. Here is the problem, even if there was no added time allowed, it is Football Understanding at the youth level, that the corner kick should be taken, if so in a timely manner.
By the way, I did precisely that in another tournament, coaches were livid regarding "feinting" at a penalty kick. After the match, I asked them what they thought we had done wrong, as we were confused about the outburst. Their understanding was HS and College which have different rules regarding PKs than we have in the Laws of the Game. They understood and were thankful.
One of the many challenges we, as referees, face is the different rules of tournament and league competitions, US Soccer, HS, College,...
Lee Robert
SILVER
and by the way, i completely agree with you, must unnatural position, is arms behind your back. I have seen defenders with their arms slightly out in a "natural position", try to move them closer to their body and the ball strikes their arm, arm snaps back and they are called for handball.
Thanks for that additional info, but until defenders can play in the box without their hand and arms behind their back, then the handling rule is still a disaster. Unfortunately, with this guidance "By having their hand/arm in such a position, the player takes a risk of their hand/arm being hit by the ball and being penalised." it leaves the door wide open for players to be called for completely unintentional (or non-deliberate) handballs.
"Unnatural" is a completely vague and ambiguous standard. It is also individual player dependent. The worst calls are when a defender goes to defend a closely contested header and the ball bounces off their, or the opponents head, and into their arm a few inches away from the head and it's called a handball and PK in the box. An arm that was elevated to in able to achieve maximum height of the head, a completely natural act. Removing the distance consideration from the LOTG has lead to these bogus calls.
The handling laws were much clearer and objective than they were a decade or so ago:
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
• touching the ball with an object held in the hand (clothing, shinguard etc.) counts as an infringement • hitting the ball with a thrown object (boot, shinguard etc.) counts as an infringement
Why IFAB decided to change handling fouls from a purely deliberate act to defenders assuming the risk by having your arms away from their side is beyond comprehension. It has fundamentally changed the game for the worse.
It is not uncommon for refs not to read the rules for a particular tournament. There is a shortage of refs for all youth sports, so you're not always getting the cream of the crop. It's frustrating, but at the end it doesn't really matter.
I 100% agree with you: the way handball infractions is officiated is infuriating, particularly at higher levels. I also agree with @watfly: a lot of the blame for the current terrible state has to lie with IFAB, not the officials trying their best to apply the rules. But this is an aspect of the game which, as currently officiated, has diverged significantly enough from the original intent as to change the entire game play within the box.
No doubt the laws needed to change on this, and I like the new rule.
It still turns solid defensive possession into a goal scoring opportunity, but we do that other places. A backwards pass picked up by the goalie doesn't involve any chance for attackers to win the ball. But it is time wasting, and the restart is a scoring opportunity.
My point was more about the previous situation: referees deciding that they won't enforce a law because they don't like it.
It's funny, but to make a related but tangential point: it's academic (since I'm not refereeing at present), but I wouldn't call handball offenses, particularly in the penalty area, in the same way as they are called at the professional level (ie: I'd be ignoring that interpretation because I don't like it). I detest calling handballs when the defender is in a natural position and the ball strikes their arm, when they have no reasonable ability to avoid it.
Note: I am aware that the text of the law may be aligned with the way I would choose to call it, but I'd still think of the way I would call it as not aligned with the laws of the game, since that's not how it's called at the professional and club level (and it's called often enough in the above scenario at both levels that it cannot plausibly just be a huge number of officiating errors). I don't care, though: I think the way it's regularly called is stupid, and contrary to the letter and intent of the law, and I wouldn't call it that way.
Lee Robert
SILVER
Zeke, I fully understand, it falls under Football Understanding and Game Management.
I'll give you an example, I was working with a Youth Referee, first time the goalkeeper held it for more than 6-secs, he blew his whistle and restarted with an Indirect Free Kick, 100% by the book. I was AR1, coach blew up, completely livid and stated, "that is never called." Luckily for me a goal was not scored, but the coach complained for the rest of the match. I spoke to him a couple of times about him being a youth referee and that I would speak to him at the half.
By the way, since the Law change, I have been counting the time, 70% release the ball within 4-secs of control, 15% 5-6 secs and 10% 7-8 secs and 5% go over the 8-secs, most of these were inexperienced goalkeepers, looking at to their coach seeking direction.
I expect more goalkeeper infractions in the 1st 2-3 weeks of the season, and then it will drop off and only a few will be called. Key is to recognize time wasting vs inexperience.
Another aside/comment: this is absolutely key, and probably the thing which is the most challenging for new referees to get comfortable with. I know when I started, learning all the rules was "easy" (a full week of training and study, but straightforward)... but learning good game management took probably a season or more (and there's always more to learn).
Probably the best example I can think of in mid-youth soccer (ie: early teens) is how strictly to call fouls, and how to try to manage on-field conflicts (and when to card for such). There's some subjectivity there, and a good ref can "let the kids play", while still keeping the game under control, and manage complaints about perceived bad calls. The last point is often the difference between a ref carding angry players or coaches for dissent, or being thanked after the game for good officiating, with the same players and game play otherwise.