Question Number: 16915

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/26/2007

RE: Varsity High School

Susan Coll of Norwood, PA USA asks...

Yesterday, my son had a soccer game. There was an issue of a red card against my son. My son is a defender, and the other team had a break away, my son was in pursuit (last defender) before the other guy made it into the box, my son tugged on his shirt to pull the foul outside of the box. When the other player entered the box, my son let go of the jersey and went around the goalie, to allow his goalie to save the shot(which he did) and to get into a recovery position. The ref played advantage and allowed the other team to shoot, and then gave my son a red card for some "last defender rule" and also awarded the other team a PK even though he played advantage and the foul occured outside of the box. Can you tell me what rule the red card comes under. Is it considered a "soft red"? And what is the difference between a "hard" red and a "soft" red?

And do you think this ref made the right call?

Thanks!

Answer provided by Referee Chuck Fleischer

Well Susan many things happened here. The first is your son held an opponent for a period of time that began outside the penalty area and ended inside the penalty area. This is foul play and should have resulted in a free kick/penalty kick or advantage being played. It is also unsportsmanlike conduct and could be serious foul play if a goal was denied the attacker.

You say the referee played advantage. Good, he recognized the foul play [holding]. You say the shot was taken and missed. You don't say what the referee saw... did he see the attacker shoot in an off balance condition caused by your son's holding? You don't say what the referee thought was the advantage he saw. These are important things to know!!

What happened is your son committed a crime and that crime should not remain unpunished. A goal is the best punishment for this crime. Better yet a goal and a caution for unsportsmanlike conduct. The referee allowed the attacker to have his shot to see if he could take he goal, perfectly legal in this soccer. The attacker didn't take the goal so the referee returned to the original foul, holding extending from a point outside the penalty area to a point inside the penalty area, and gave the free kick -- in this case a penalty kick. He also noted that the crime was a direct free kick offense and because it denied a goal or an obvious goal scoring opportunity he disqualified your son, again perfectly within the rules.

Is it your contention your son's crime of denying his opponents a goal scoring opportunity should go unpunished?

In American high school there are two instances in which a player is disqualified from participation and may be replaced with a substitute. They are: a subsequent caution and excessive celebration. These are incorrectly called soft red cards. All other disqualifications are not replaced and they are incorrectly referred to as hard red cards.

Regards,

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Even though the hold started outside the penalty area, if in the opinion of the referee the foul continued into the penalty area (which it looks to me like it did here), then the proper restart is a penalty kick. But... your son didn't get sent off for the hold. What he did was deny a goal or goal scoring opportunity by committing a foul against an opponent heading towards the goal. The allowing of advantage was correct as there was an immediate shot on goal but your son, even though the shot was taken, committed this serious offence for which he was sent off and shown the red card. Also, it's apparent that the referee did not believe the mere taking of the shot caused the advantage to be realized. Since the advantage was not realised, you come back and punish the original foul which in this case was a hold that took place inside the penalty area. Thus, the restart is a penalty kick as happened here. Had the shot been scored, your son would have been cautioned for unsporting behavior and shown the yellow card. Everywhere in the world, except US High School soccer, all red cards are the same.

The following questions were asked as a follow up to the above question...

See Question: 16932