Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankJ
I believe in soccer minor fouls are ignored if they do not effect play? I think it is the "play on rule"
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Digression: Unless it's an American thing, I believe the 'play on' rule is about playing on if doing so gives an advantage (or doesn't harm) the team that "suffered" (ie the victim team of the offence). I think the goalie bouncing a ball is an example of a class of rules that tend to be ignored by referees, or interpreted differently, to avoid egregious officiating, or 'common sense' application of rules. Handballs are often not ruled by the letter of the law (or there would be more yellow cards). The laws have become a framework for which referees can pick and choose interpretation based on precedent and circumstance, usually as a reaction to popular opinion.
The analogy is apt for this situation.
If a referee decided to penalise a goalkeeper for holding on to the ball for seven seconds, there would be an uproar, even though it's written in the rules. In a situation like this, where actually timing each team rigorously is unsustainable, what's more important: consistency with the rules or consistency across all events?