Why are goalkeepers allowed to make dangerous challenges?

Why are goalkeepers allowed to make reckless challenges with excessive force that threaten injury to other players?

Yet again, we’ve just witnessed how dangerous some goalkeeper challenges are and it still shocks me that football organisations such as FIFA, UEFA, the English FA, and many more have still not cracked down on it.

In the Euro 2020 fixture between Portugal and France on Wednesday, the French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris punched Portugal’s Danilo Pereira (see video below), which for once was actually given as a foul.

In most cases, these types of challenges are either not penalised at all, or what really shocks me, they are typically given against the players for getting in the way of the goalkeeper.

Former Manchester United and England centre back Rio Ferdinand said: “He’s got no control of his body and when he comes out at that speed it’s like a punch in a UFC fight,” per the Daily Mail.

This is certainly not the first time we’ve seen a dangerous challenge made by a goalkeeper, and it is by no means the worst either.

One of the worst challenges I’ve ever witnessed was that by Chicago Fire goalkeeper Matt Lampson, when he basically just ran straight into Vancouver Whitecaps striker Masato Kudo.

Kudo was not only knocked out but was rushed to hospital for further analysis and to have surgery to repair his fractured jaw.

If the last two examples weren’t enough to showcase the severity of these challenges, then perhaps this one by Barcelona’s goalkeeper Víctor Valdés on both Gerard Piqué and Didier Drogba is enough to show just how dangerous goalkeepers can be.

As you can see in all of the examples above, every single player who gets injured in those videos only has their eyes fixed on the ball and certainly not on the goalkeeper.

Here’s what the International Football Association Board (IFAB) laws of the game rulebook, which includes the likes of FIFA, has to say about “impeding the progress of an opponent without contact”.

“Impeding the progress of an opponent means moving into the opponent’s path to obstruct, block, slow down or force a change of direction when the ball is not within playing distance of either player. All players have a right to their position on the field of play; being in the way of an opponent is not the same as moving into the way of an opponent.”

It is this law that protects goalkeepers by suggesting that the players are impeding upon the goalkeeper’s progress by obstructing them from winning the ball. However, as the latter bit suggests, being in the way of an opponent (i.e. the goalkeeper in this instance) is not the same as moving into the way of an opponent (i.e. blatant obstruction).

What’s funny though (hint the sarcasm) is that the paragraph right above that one about playing in a dangerous manner reads the following:

“Playing in a dangerous manner is any action that, while trying to play the ball, threatens injury to someone (including the player themself) and includes preventing a nearby opponent from playing the ball for fear of injury.”

You only have to ask yourself two questions based on that statement above.

1. Does the goalkeeper committing a challenge like that threaten injury to a player?

2. If the player saw the goalkeeper charging towards them as they did in the examples above, would it prevent them from trying to play the ball in fear of injury?

You can honestly only answer yes to both of those questions, meaning challenges like the ones above from goalkeepers infringes upon that rule.

I have personally played competitive football as far back as I can remember, and have always feared going anywhere near a goalkeeper when there is a 50-50 ball to be won because I know they are simply going to come out as aggressively as possible to win the ball and won’t be penalised by the referee.

(Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)

This problem is actually worse in amateur, lower-league football where in many cases goalkeepers actually seem to enjoy inflicting damage on players.

Based on the video examples given above, because the players have their eyes fixed on the ball not the goalkeeper, they are also not blatantly not trying obstruct the goalkeeper and the goalkeeper is playing in a dangerous manner, then these sorts of challenges are extremely dangerous and need to be stamped out by match officials.

Not to mention the fact that the goalkeepers can see the player in front of them as well as the ball when they are making these reckless challenges with excessive force.

Many people, including Rio Ferdinand and Chelsea legend Frank Lampard, have already criticised the challenge made by Hugo Lloris because these reckless fouls put player safety at risk. If an outfield player was to make an aggressive challenge that put the opponent’s safety at risk, then it would be a straight red card and probably a several-match ban.

According to the Daily Mail, Lampard agreed with his co-pundits as he said: “Goalkeepers have been given leeway for years to come and catch things. But when you’re punching and coming out of that speed and going through the player, it’s dangerous and reckless.”

I am not suggesting that goalkeepers shouldn’t be protected from reckless challenges made on them by players, because they absolutely should be, but I am saying that kamikaze challenges with excessive force – similar to those demonstrated above – need to be seriously revisited due to player safety.

The primary concern of all of this is player safety, and careless goalkeeping challenges like the ones shown above showcase just how much of a concern this problem is.