Question:
Is the goalie aloud to touch the ball wither by hand or foot after they have attempted to drop kick it out of there defensive area. For example: Goalie picks up the ball attempts to drop kick it but misses the ball completely. Can they pick it up again and kick it if they are inside the area aloud by goalies to handle the ball? Same situation however the ball is outside the handleing area and they kick while its on the ground. Is this goalie mishandling infraction?
2nd situation: Goalie goes to drop kick the ball and just nicks the ball with their foot. Can they play the ball again either by picking it up and drop kicking it again or just by running up to it and kicking it?
Im under the understanding that if a goalie makes a drop kicking motion and nicks or misses the ball they can not play it again. If they do its goalie mishandling and its an indirect free kick for the other team.
USSF answer (May 6, 2009):
If the goalkeeper releases the ball from the hands and kicks it away and it hits the the ground, the ball is in play for everyone and the goalkeeper may not pick it up again until some other player has played it. Correct restart is an indirect for the opposing team from the place where the goalkeeper touched the ball again after releasing it.
On the other hand, the goalkeeper may certainly kick the ball without touching it again with the hands. That has never been an infringement of the Laws.
That said, this sort of thing often occurs among younger and less-skilled players. The referee should use discretion in calling this foul, at least the first time it occurs, during a game with such players. The correct action in that case would be to remind the goalkeeper that he or she may not touch the ball again. We might add at least a brief reminder that, most of the time, this scenario would and should be deemed trifling by the referee and not worth stopping play in order to punish such a violation where no one was impacted.
