There are many questions an umpire must consider when interpreting holding the ball situations.

The Spirit of the Laws are distributed at all levels of football to assist umpires in achieving consistency and accuracy in their decision making.

When considering tackling and holding the ball situations the Spirit of the Laws firstly outlines that the tackle must be legal.

“For a holding the ball free kick to be awarded, the tackle must be legal.”

Once it has been determined that a tackle is legal the umpire should consider whether the player has elected to dive on the ball.

In relation to diving on the ball the Spirit of the Laws explain that “the ball shall be kept in motion”.

Where a player elects to dive on the ball or elects to drag the ball underneath their body and is correctly tackled, the player is to be penalised for holding the ball if they fail to knock the ball clear or correctly dispose of it.

If the player hasn’t dived on the ball then the umpire needs to consider whether they have had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball.  

The Spirit of the Laws explain that if the player who has possession of the ball has not had prior opportunity to dispose of the ball prior to being tackled correctly they should be “given a reasonable opportunity to make a genuine attempt to kick or handball the ball”.

If the tackle pins the ball and a genuine attempt is made to dispose of the ball, a field bounce will result. 

If a correct tackle or bump causes the player with the ball to lose possession, play on will result.

However, where a player “has had prior opportunity to dispose and is then correctly tackled by an opponent they must immediately and successfully kick or handball the ball”.

And in these situations if a correct tackle pins the ball or causes the player with the ball to lose possession, a free kick will result. 

However, if a bump or knock to the arm causes the player with the ball to lose possession, play on will result.

Strategies to assist the interpretation of holding the ball were as follows; 

It is also important that umpires use correct terms in explaining the holding the ball process.  For example, “you had prior opportunity and didn’t legally dispose of the ball” or “you didn’t make a genuine attempt to dispose of the ball”.