Talk:Back-pass rule

I propose moving this to Pass-back rule and swapping the redirect. I have never heardit called the 'Back-pass rule'. It's called a "Pass-back", not a "Back-pass". --Guinnog 04:31, 29 July 2006 (UTC)

• tbh- I've always known it as the "back-pass" rule... Downunda 03:49, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
• I agree with Downunda, I've only ever known it as Back-pass. Mcnurse (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 21:40, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

Bonner

"An example was when Ireland goalkeeper Pat Bonner kept the ball for over 6 minutes against Egypt by dribbling it around his box and picking it up again."

This never happened. Ian Cheese (talk) 12:19, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

I'm removing it, there's certainly enough evidence that it's vandalism. (And PLEASE can Wikipedia users be a bit more critical when dealing with anonymous vandals making stuff up??)

It started with a malicious edit on June 17, 2009: "An example was when Rupublic of Ireland goalkeeper John O'Rourke kepts the ball for over 6 minutes against Egypt, by dribbling it around his box and picking it up again." [sic] Then on Sep 27, 2009, another anon user changed it foolishly: "No one called John O'Rourke ever played in goal for the Republic of Ireland. The keeper's in question is Pat Bonner." Jeez...

Since then, this lie has been reported as fact in a few places online, all linking it to "Wikipedia" as if that's a reliable original source... In case you're interested, you can see highlights of that game (Ireland doing all the attacking), Dunphy's disappointment, Charlton's defiance, the AP match report from 1990 and a later report on it. None of these sources mention Bonner timewasting, probably because it didn't happen. - Demokra (talk) 07:04, 7 September 2013 (UTC)

It was added again in June 2018 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.155.73.34 (talk) 19:32, 24 June 2018 (UTC)

How a lie becomes fact

Due to dumb and gullible editing, the false Bonner story made it into print and onto 'news' websites.

A hack Guardian journo put it into a compilation book of football stories (unresearched ones, it seems).

Unlike him, you can actually watch Ireland v Egypt 1990, a long video of the First Half and an even longer video of the Second Half from Egyptian TV.

Ireland wanted to win the game so didn't waste time. Egypt's goalie did, and was booked for timewasting – because referees at that time wouldn't let a player waste 6 minutes of a match. But clearly the truth doesn't matter to some people.

(I'm not so angry at the wikipedia vandals - I'm angrier at the ones who fell for it.) - Demokra (talk) 03:45, 17 March 2020 (UTC)

Lack of enforcement

There is an anecdote at the end of the article joking about how the back-pass rule is never enforced. This needs to be expanded. I too have never seen anyone penalized for a back-pass. AndrewK760 (talk) 20:32, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Playing with the shin is a backpass too

Although it is not clearly defined in the laws, a deliberate pass with the shin is also considered a back pass. Referees are thought that any pass below the knee can be deliberate. Although not clearly stated, it is derived from another part of the rules that states:

uses a deliberate trick while the ball is in play to pass the ball to his own goalkeeper with his head, chest, knee, etc. in order to circumvent the Law, irrespective of whether the goalkeeper touches the ball with his hands or not. The offence is committed by the player in attempting to circumvent both the letter and the spirit of Law 12 and play is restarted with an indirect free kick

From this we know that deliberate back passes with the knee are allowed. In practice, it also used to state that the lowest part of the body where playing the ball is allowed is the knee. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 83.83.32.169 (talk) 18:31, 17 January 2014 (UTC)

I disagree with this entirely. The Law states "kicked". A kick is with the foot. The quote you have referenced simply lists three parts of the body that regularly play the ball - it does not provide a lower bound on which parts of the body may play the ball back to the goalkeeper with subsequent handling being legal. The quote from USSF now referenced in the body of the article indicates that the ball must be played with the foot for it to be an infringement.

Given the difficulty of directing the ball with the shin, I'm struggling to envisage any instance of playing the ball with the shin that would constitute a "deliberate" action anyway, since playing the ball with the shin is normally a deflection or misdirection of the ball.203.39.159.20 (talk) 21:30, 24 January 2017 (UTC)

Offence rests on three events

This needs a cite. I can find no source in Fifa that refers to these three events as they are they stated, yet people appear to be quoting this section all over the web. These are a glossing of the law based on somebody's (over)interpretation and I question its accuracy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:306:3495:D750:21C:B3FF:FEB5:75E1 (talk) 19:23, 10 December 2015 (UTC)

These are an official interpretation by USSF, which has been cleared with FIFA/IFAB for its accuracy. I have no idea why they were copied verbatim from a USSF resource without being referenced, but since I recognised the quote, I've now referenced them correctly. 203.39.159.20 (talk) 21:32, 24 January 2017 (UTC)

Im removing "Another rule was introduced at the same time as the back-pass rule, with the same intentions. This rule prohibits the goalkeeper from handling the ball again once he has released it for play. This offence would also result in an indirect free kick to the opposition.[citation needed]" Rule was introduced approx 10 years earlier and has no direct link to backpass rule Zodde (talk) 14:54, 10 February 2018 (UTC)

back pass rule

what if the defender plays a back pass to the goalkeeper then the goalkeeper has been attack by an opponent. Is it allowed for the goalkeeper to hold the ball with the hands 197.231.239.76 (talk) 17:11, 27 November 2021 (UTC)

No, it's not. Then the goalkeeper might desperately kick the ball to a throw-in, or even to a corner kick. (The latter I saw just the other day in a World Cup match.) Fomalhaut76 (talk) 09:08, 1 December 2022 (UTC)