Back-pass rule

Goalkeepers are normally allowed to handle the ball within their own penalty area, and once they have control of the ball in their hands opposition players may not challenge them for it. However the back-pass rule prohibits goalkeepers from handling the ball after it has been deliberately kicked to them by a team-mate, or after receiving it directly from a throw-in taken by a team-mate.{{cite web |url=http://theifab.com/laws#!/laws/fouls-and-misconduct/chapters/indirect-free-kick |website=IFAB Laws of the Game |title=Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct, Section 1 - Indirect Free Kick |year=2016 |access-date=24 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171122145948/http://theifab.com/laws#!/laws/fouls-and-misconduct/chapters/indirect-free-kick |archive-date=22 November 2017 |url-status=dead }} Back-passes with parts of the body other than the foot, such as headers, are allowed. Despite the popular name "back-pass rule", there is no requirement in the laws that the kick or throw-in must be backwards; handling by the goalkeeper is forbidden regardless of the direction the ball travels.

The penalty for the offence is an indirect free kick. This is awarded from the position where the handling occurred, unless it is within the 6-yard goal area, in which case the kick is taken from the point on the 6-yard line closest to the point of the offence.

Goalkeepers are allowed to handle the ball if the ball is played back to them by an action other than a kick or throw-in (such as a header), but defenders are not permitted to attempt to use a deliberate trick to pass the ball to the goalkeeper with a part of the body other than the foot to circumvent the rule. This would include flicking the ball up with the foot and then heading the ball back to the goalkeeper, or heading a ball on the ground that would otherwise be regularly playable with the foot.{{cite web |url=http://theifab.com/#!/laws/fouls-and-misconduct/chapters/disciplinary-action |website=IFAB Laws of the Game |title=Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct, Section 3 - Disciplinary Action |year=2016 |access-date=24 January 2017 |archive-date=31 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831203138/https://theifab.com/#!/laws/fouls-and-misconduct/chapters/disciplinary-action |url-status=live }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/english-premier-league/23/blog/post/3175840/premier-league-chaos-when-backpass-law-invented-in-1992|title=The early chaos of the backpass law|date=2017-08-09|website=ESPN.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-13|archive-date=14 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170814130443/http://www.espn.co.uk/soccer/english-premier-league/23/blog/post/3175840/premier-league-chaos-when-backpass-law-invented-in-1992|url-status=live}}

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has provided the following guidance to goalkeepers about when they cannot use their hands on the ball in the penalty area:

{{Quote frame |text=

The offense rests on three events occurring in the following sequence:

• The ball is kicked (played with the foot, not the knee, thigh, or shin) by a teammate of the goalkeeper,
• This action is deemed to be deliberate, rather than a deflection or miskick, and
• The goalkeeper handles the ball directly (no intervening touch of play of the ball by anyone else)

When, in the opinion of the referee, these three conditions are met, the violation has occurred. It is not necessary for the ball to be "passed", it is not necessary for the ball to go "back", and it is not necessary for the deliberate play by the teammate to be "to" the goalkeeper.

|author=Jim Allen (USSF National Instructor and National Assessor) |source=Ask A Soccer Referee{{cite web |url=http://www.askasoccerreferee.com/the-ball-deliberately-kicked-to-the-goalkeeper-yet-again/ |title=The Ball Deliberately Kicked to the Goalkeeper (Yet Again) |website=Ask a Soccer Referee |date=20 June 2011 |access-date=24 January 2017 |last=Allen |first=Jim |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202100222/http://www.askasoccerreferee.com/the-ball-deliberately-kicked-to-the-goalkeeper-yet-again/ |url-status=live }}}}

The back-pass rule was introduced in 1992[http://www.theifab.com/history/laws ifab.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181019224918/http://www.theifab.com/history/laws |date=19 October 2018 }} – The History of the Laws of the Game – From 1863 to the Present Day – accessed 5 November 2017 to discourage time-wasting and unduly defensive play after the 1990 World Cup was widely criticised as excessively dull, rife with back-passing and goalkeepers holding up the ball to waste time.{{cite web|last1=Hall|first1=Pete|title=The back-pass rule 25 years on - how has the Premier League benefited?|url=http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/10982127/the-back-pass-rule-25-years-on-how-has-the-premier-league-benefited|website=Sky Sports|accessdate=9 February 2018|language=en|archive-date=9 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209182415/http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11096/10982127/the-back-pass-rule-25-years-on-how-has-the-premier-league-benefited|url-status=live}} The last tournament prior to the back-pass rule was UEFA Euro 1992.{{cite web|url=https://www.balls.ie/other-sports/rule-changes-sport-360063|title=Packie Bonner, Anthony Nash And Others Who Helped Inspire Rule Changes In Their Sport|website=balls.ie|date=2 January 2022|access-date=18 November 2013|archive-date=15 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191115111546/https://www.balls.ie/other-sports/rule-changes-sport-360063|url-status=live}}

The first games played with the new rule were at the 1992 Summer Olympics.{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Nick|title=Who was the last goalkeeper to legally pick up a backpass?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/18/knowledge-last-goalkeeper-legally-pick-up-backpass|accessdate=9 February 2018|work=The Guardian|date=18 February 2015|language=en|archive-date=22 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622005043/https://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/18/knowledge-last-goalkeeper-legally-pick-up-backpass|url-status=live}} Early matches with the new rule resulted in some confusion in defences; indeed in the very first game Italy fell foul of the new rule and the United States were able to score after being awarded an indirect free kick 15 yards from goal.{{cite web|last1=Hurrey|first1=Adam|title=The early chaos of the backpass law|url=http://www.espn.co.uk/football/english-premier-league/23/blog/post/3175840/premier-league-chaos-when-backpass-law-invented-in-1992|website=ESPN.com|accessdate=9 February 2018|date=9 August 2017|archive-date=9 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209182308/http://www.espn.co.uk/football/english-premier-league/23/blog/post/3175840/premier-league-chaos-when-backpass-law-invented-in-1992|url-status=live}}

In 1997, the back-pass rule was extended to prevent goalkeepers handling the ball when received directly from a team-mate's throw in.{{cite web|title=Goalkeepers are not above the Law|url=https://www.fifa.com/newscentre/news/newsid=72050/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715172550/http://www.fifa.com/newscentre/news/newsid=72050/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 July 2014|publisher=FIFA|accessdate=8 June 2014|date=31 October 1997}}

A goal scored by Bayern Munich from an indirect free kick, awarded for a back-pass late in a game between them and Hamburg, was decisive in Bayern winning the 2000–01 Bundesliga.{{Cite news|url=https://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/fussball-bundesliga-zweifel-am-meister-tor-a-135060.html|title=Fußball-Bundesliga: Zweifel am Meister-Tor|date=2001-05-20|work=Spiegel Online|access-date=2019-12-03|archive-date=13 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613011424/http://www.spiegel.de/sport/fussball/fussball-bundesliga-zweifel-am-meister-tor-a-135060.html|url-status=live}}

The back-pass rule is considered one of the most popular and successful rule changes in the modern game. As well as preventing dull play, it also required goalkeepers to become more proficient with playing the ball with their feet,{{cite podcast |url=https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/unsure-footing/ |title=Unsure Footing |website=99% Invisible |host=Roman Mars |date=15 October 2019 |access-date=30 October 2019 |archive-date=21 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191021140938/https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/unsure-footing/ |url-status=live }} and has been cited as the start of the evolution of the playmaking "sweeper-keeper".

{{reflist}}

{{Association football laws}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Back-Pass Rule}}

Category:Laws of association football

Category:Association football terminology

Category:1992 in association football

Category:1992 introductions