GUIDES · BETSLIP DOCTOR
When may a goalkeeper handle a teammate’s pass or throw-in?
Inside the goalkeeper's own penalty area, hands are generally prohibited after a deliberate kick to the goalkeeper by a teammate or a direct teammate throw-in. Law 12 makes a narrow exception when the goalkeeper clearly kicks or tries to kick the ball to release it into play after receiving one of those teammate sources. That exception does not erase the separate restriction on handling a ball the goalkeeper has already released before another player touches it.
For Football players and viewers checking whether a goalkeeper may use the hands after a teammate’s play. · Updated
Check how the goalkeeper received it
The teammate-source restriction applies inside the goalkeeper's own penalty area when a teammate deliberately kicks the ball to the goalkeeper or the goalkeeper receives it directly from a teammate's throw-in. Direction alone is not the test.
The exception is tied to that source clause: a goalkeeper who clearly kicks or attempts to kick the ball to release it into play after receiving it from the teammate may handle it under the stated exception. It is not a blanket permission for every ball played back.
The goalkeeper's own release is a separate branch
If the goalkeeper releases the ball and then touches it with a hand or arm again before another player has touched it, that is a separate indirect-free-kick offence. The teammate-source kick exception does not turn this own-release sequence into a permitted rehandle.
An ordinary header is not automatically a circumvention trick
A teammate's ordinary chest or head pass is not automatically an offence. The separate trick rule concerns a deliberate attempt to use a teammate's head, chest, knee or another method to get around the handling restriction. That sequence is punished with an indirect free kick even if the goalkeeper never handles the ball; the player who initiated the trick is cautioned, including a goalkeeper who starts it.
Do not turn the restart into a blanket card rule
The ordinary prohibited handling inside the goalkeeper's own penalty area is an indirect-free-kick offence without a disciplinary sanction. Separately, after a restart, if the goalkeeper plays the ball a second time before anyone else touches it, Law 12 requires a sanction when that second play stops a promising attack or denies a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Which edition this guide uses
Edition note: This guide follows the IFAB's current online Laws of the Game 2026/27, checked 15 October 2026. Circular 32 dates the edition's effect to 1 July 2026. Competitions that had already started may adopt it earlier or no later than their next competition; the adoption of any particular competition is not established here. Circular 34 explains that Circular 33 changes appeared online but missed the printed book's production schedule. This guide uses the current online text and does not claim that each clause is new in 2026/27 or that a trial applies.
Fictional pass, release and trick branches
In a fictional match, a defender deliberately kicks the ball to the goalkeeper inside the goalkeeper's penalty area, who picks it up; the ordinary teammate-source restriction applies. In a separate play, another defender throws the ball directly to the goalkeeper in that area, who handles it; the throw-in source has its own branch. In a third case, the goalkeeper controls a teammate's deliberate kick with the foot but neither kicks nor clearly tries to kick it to release the ball, then handles it; the exception is not established. In a fourth, after receiving a deliberate teammate kick inside the goalkeeper's penalty area, the goalkeeper clearly attempts to kick the ball to release it into play but handles it instead; the stated teammate-source exception means the handling is not an offence on those facts. In a separate sequence, the goalkeeper releases a ball they held, then handles it again before another player touches it; that is an indirect free kick, and the teammate-source exception does not apply to the goalkeeper's own release. A normal chest or head pass is not automatically a trick, while a defender deliberately lifting and heading the ball back to evade the restriction is penalised even if the goalkeeper never handles it. In one separate trick, the goalkeeper initiates the circumvention and is cautioned even without a later hand touch. These are stipulated examples, not real rulings.
Related questions
Can a goalkeeper handle a teammate's throw-in?
Not when it is received directly inside the goalkeeper's own penalty area, subject to Law 12's specific clear-kick or attempted-release exception.
Does the ball have to travel backwards for the restriction to apply?
No. Law 12 turns on the teammate source and the stated exception, not a backward-direction test.
Is every teammate header a deliberate trick?
No. The trick rule is about a deliberate circumvention attempt, not an ordinary chest or head pass.
Can there be a card after prohibited goalkeeper handling?
The ordinary prohibited handling has no disciplinary sanction, but a separate goalkeeper second play after a restart must be sanctioned if it stops a promising attack or denies a goal or an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
Sources and further reading
- The IFAB — Laws of the Game 2026/27, Law 12: Fouls and Misconduct; 12.1 goalkeeper-handling sanction paragraph; 12.2 complete goalkeeper/source-of-ball and deliberate-trick clauses; 12.4 trick caution entry. Current online body checked 2026-10-15; a separate day-level body publication date was not established.
- The IFAB Circular 32, dated 2026-03-31, p. 3: 2026/27 effective date and transition.
- The IFAB Circular 33, dated 2026-05-19: additional 2026/27 changes, read for edition control.
- The IFAB Circular 34, dated 2026-07-27, pp. 2 and 4: online/printed materials and trial-permission controls.