In Soccer, Is It A Thing To Kick The Ball At Your Opponent's Dick?

[Atamasama]

@HeyHomie

Now I’m going to have to scour YouTube for set pieces from recent Women’s Cups to see if they covered their lady bits.

If they didn’t, what were the Women’s Cups used for?

[Tread]

@Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil

I guess it’s possible that some players do it on purpose but it’s kind of a dick move.

I see what you did there

[DSYoungEsq]

@HeyHomie

Now I’m going to have to scour YouTube for set pieces from recent Women’s Cups to see if they covered their lady bits.

It used to be common in high school age girls soccer for them to cross their arms across their breasts when standing in the wall. A shot direct to a mammary can have serious consequences beyond it just hurting. As referees, we were encouraged to allow this without calling the player for handling if the ball struck the arms. As the years have passed, I’ve seen less of this.

[Quercus]

@Atamasama

Having played soccer in high school, first of all like others suggested it’s rare to wear a cup. You just don’t need it. Nobody I knew wore one. Most injuries will of course be from the knees down. (I myself broke a toe once.)

Actually getting hit in the groin, by a ball, hard enough to be injured… I’m honestly not sure how that would happen. Your genitalia is kind of tucked away between two thighs and below an abdomen, all of which is projecting further from your body than your genitals. Given the diameter of a soccer ball I’m not sure how it could strike someone in the groin without being deflected by a different part of the body. Not unless that person was lying down with their legs spread.

If by ‘injured’ you mean, ‘needing to stop play to recover’, then I can assure you it’s quite possible (“gasp… any save is a good save, right? As soon as I can stand up I’ll celebrate”)

Though, I’m sure it’s not as dangerous as being hit with something smaller and harder, like a baseball. And in the case I’m, uh, very intimately familiar with, there was no permanent damage from the soccer ball.

[TroutMan]

@Novelty_Bobble

@TriPolar

Is there a penalty for making such a shot, or is it only the guy getting hit that gets penalized?

For getting hit in the nuts? no penalty for either person, perfectly legal.

Not to step on the joke, but is it a penalty on the “receiving player” if they are covering their crotch with their hands? Is that counted as a hand ball or do the refs cut them some slack?

[naita]

@TroutMan

Not to step on the joke, but is it a penalty on the “receiving player” if they are covering their crotch with their hands? Is that counted as a hand ball or do the refs cut them some slack?

If the receiving player moves to intercept the ball it could be an offense, otherwise not.

Here’s a 2011/12 FIFA description:

Handling the ball involves a deliberate act of a player making contact with
the ball with his hand or arm. The referee must take the following into
consideration:
• the movement of the hand towards the ball (not the ball towards the hand)
• the distance between the opponent and the ball (unexpected ball)
• the position of the hand does not necessarily mean that there is an
infringement

You have to have your arms somewhere, but the rule is that keeping them close against or in front of the body is okay, as long as you don’t actively seek to influence where the ball bounces next.

[DSYoungEsq]

Following up on that, referees have spent the last four or five years specifically reminding players in the wall not to move their arms to try and deflect a ball smashed at their face. To do so is handling.

[HeyHomie]

It Happened Today!!!

I’m coming back to this thread to report that today I watched a soccer player get the ball kicked into his dick!

Now, it wasn’t on a set piece, it may have happened before during this Cup and I missed it, and it almost certainly wasn’t intentional. But in the second half of England v. Croatia today, an England player got the ball right to his johnson, from I’m guessing maybe five meters.

[Baron_Greenback]

@HeyHomie

It Happened Today!!!

I’m coming back to this thread to report that today I watched a soccer player get the ball kicked into his dick!

Now, it wasn’t on a set piece, it may have happened before during this Cup and I missed it, and it almost certainly wasn’t intentional. But in the second half of England v. Croatia today, an England player got the ball right to his johnson, from I’m guessing maybe five meters.

That was Kyle Walker, who got a right dull one, it’s fair to say. He did manage to get to his feet for a few seconds to make a defensive header, but he quite rightly needed to lie down for a bit after that.