Holding the ball

Holding the ball is a rule in Australian rules football. The rule results in a free kick being awarded against a player if he fails to correctly dispose of the football upon being tackled by an opponent, although not under all circumstances. The rule provides the defending team a means to dispossess a player who is running with the football, as well as preventing players from slowing the play.

The holding the ball rule dates to the formative years of the game. It has a long history as one of the most contentious rules in the game and one of the most difficult to umpire consistently, in large part due to the several points of umpire discretion involved in its interpretation.

Under the 2015 release of the Laws of Australian Football, holding the ball (officially holding the football) is covered by Laws 15.2.3 through 15.2.6. Three specific variations of the rule apply depending upon how the player came to be in possession of the ball. The wording of these three variations in the laws is as follows:

Although the name of the rule is 'holding the ball', cases where the football is dropped or otherwise illegally lost come under the same rule; this is sometimes informally referred to as 'dropping the ball'. Cases where the football is thrown or disposed of in another illegal manner are penalised under the 'Incorrect Disposal' law (Law 15.3.2).

The umpire signals holding the ball by leaning forward and sweeping both arms below his body and out to his sides. Customarily, spectators will shout "Ball!" when they believe a holding the ball free kick should be paid.

Although it is commonly understood that a player assumes prior opportunity at some stage shortly after he has taken possession of the ball, the Laws of the Game do not explicitly define what constitutes a prior opportunity. Defining and interpreting the prior opportunity is left to the discretion of the umpires, acting on the direction of the umpiring coaches. Under the directions given by the AFL umpires coach in 2015, the cues an umpire should use to determine whether or not a prior opportunity exists are: is the player balanced and steady with the football; has the player chosen to break or fend away a tackler, or; has the player chosen to ignore a reasonable opportunity to dispose of the ball.

Likewise, there are no explicit definitions within the rules for what constitutes a 'reasonable opportunity' to dispose of the ball when a player has had no prior opportunity, nor what constitutes a 'genuine attempt' to dispose of the ball. As is the case for prior opportunity, the umpires can determine this at their discretion and at the direction of the umpiring coaches.

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