1.8 Pushing
Within the penalty area, the goalie has priority. Attacking robots are not supposed to push the goalie in any way.
If the attacker and the goalie touch each other and at least one of them has physical contact with the ball, the ball will be >moved to the nearest unoccupied neutral spot immediately.
If a goal is scored as a result of this pushed-situation, it will not be granted.
What would be the ruling if the ball is stuck between the attacker and the goalie without the robots coming into physical contact?
What would be the ruling if the ball is stuck between the attacker and the goalie without the robots coming into physical contact?
That’s indeed a good question, as it is not directly addressed by the rules in the section on pushing. As it is a bit speculative, please take my answer with a grain of salt.
Given the latest version of the rules, most probably the first reaction of any referee would be to call “Lack of progress”. The rule 1.9 explicitly states that “Typical lack of progress situations are when the ball is stuck between robots”. This of course assumes that there is no progress in this situation for a “reasonable amount of time” and the “visible and loud call” happened (as also mentioned in rule 1.9).
Understandably, your next question may be “What about a goal that would result from a situation like this?” That is really difficult to assess in this speculative example. Provided that the ball was stuck between the attacker and the goalie, the “Lack of progress” did not happen and that the ball managed to somehow enter the goal without the requirements for pushing being met, the goal would be considered valid.
I hope my reply helps to answer your question to at least some extend. If not, please feel free to ask follow up questions – I’ll do my best to respond to them faster next time.
– Marek
EDIT: Just to be completely clear, the described situation would not be considered a push.