For those that are inexperienced in the game, understanding basic soccer rules can be rather a challenge. Calls manufactured by referees may appear biased, some moves may appear illegal, and it could be just plain annoying to be in the dark about what is going on on. Below you may find a couple of the basic soccer rules concerning the utilization of hands which will help you to appreciate and luxuriate in the next game you watch.
The most basic of soccer rules is the one that most people already know: Players aren’t supposed to use their hands unless they are the goalie. However, there’s a little more to this rule than meets the eye. In soccer, the hand rule applies to any piece of the body from the shoulder to the fingertips. It might be more exactingly outlined as a no arms rule vs a no hands rule, but it’s what it is.
If a ball is kicked and happens to hit a player’s hand, then this is okay. This would be considered unintentional handling. However, if the player were to proceed to handle the ball in a purposeful manner, this would be considered an illegal move. A referee would have to use his best judgment to determine if hand contact with a ball was accidental or purposeful.
Even though the hand rule is one of the most simple soccer rules, it can seem a touch confusing on occasion. For instance, it is understood that the goalie is the only player who is legally permitted to handle the ball with his hands. However, there are certain eventualities in which it is not legal for even the goal tender to touch the ball with his hands.
This is often referred to as the back-pass rule. Under this rule, the goal tender can’t handle a pass that came from one of his team member. In this position he’d have to use his feet to deal with the ball.
This is by no means an exhaustive look at all of the basic soccer rules. However, this should give you a great start for understanding the game of soccer. There are numerous more detailed rules that explain other facets of soccer beyond the boundaries of this article.
Good resources can be found on the FIFA’s website (this stands for Fédération Internationale de Football Association – soccer is known as football in every country of the world except America). You may consult a soccer coach or fan for a better knowledge of basic soccer rules.
