Legality
Performing a seal dribble in a game is legally dubious under the 2019–20 version of the Laws Of The Game. Law 12 which covers fouls, defines "playing in a dangerous manner" as any action that threatens injury including to the player themselves, by preventing an opponent from playing the ball due to fear of injury. As a seal dribble keeps the ball up in the air and close to the player dribbling, only challenges involving an opponent trying to head the ball away and a goalkeeper grabbing the ball or punching it can possibly be legal. Both of these have a clear risk of injury to the players involved. Kerlon's career was marked by incidents where opposition players elbowed, tripped, kicked or headbutted him while he was performing a seal dribble, frustrated by an inability to challenge the seal dribble. A famous case was when Atletico Mineiro's Coelho fouled Kerlon after he performed the seal dribble with a hard elbow attack to the face. As a result, Coelho was initially banned for 120 days although this was reduced to five games after an appeal. A referee can decide to award a free kick to the opposition should a player attempt a seal dribble in a manner that risks injury, and can caution the seal dribbler for unsporting behaviour for showing a lack of respect for the game.References
{{footy-stub Association football skills Association football terminology