Question Number: 19265

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/4/2008

RE: Under 15

Dave of Des Moines, IA IS asks...

This question is a follow up to question 19246

Thank you Mr. Voshol for your answer.

Once again one question begs another question.

How would you handle the situation if there was a careless foul after the delayed signal for the goal.

Would you book a player if it was a reckless foul?

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

If I as referee (eventually) accept my AR's opinion that a goal was scored, anything that happens after that is only misconduct. It cannot be a foul.

If there was an action that if taken during play would have been considered a reckless foul, I would have to make a determination as to whether the incident warrented a caution or not. Most likely my trifling/foul/caution/send-off continuum line would be shifted somewhat so that the behavior would need to be more severe to generate a caution - after all, if the ref crew had been on top of things, the incident would have not happened. That doesn't mean I'm letting him off the hook! The perpetrator and I would be having a serious conversation. "Hey #7. I missed my AR's signal for the goal. So what you did wasn't a foul. But if the ball had been in play, we might be looking at a caution just now. You need to get in control of yourself. I'll be watching."

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Once the timing of events is settled the goal occured first hence the MISCONDUCT occurs after as no foul can occur once a ball is out of play. Play must be restarted via the kick off. There is a tendancy to allow some free whacks when a goal or after a shot on goal has been completed . The careless element as my colleague Ref Voshol points out could migrate to reckless especially given the lateness of some tackles. So yes a caution show a yellow card is certainly quite possible .The need to at least TALK is SERIOUS and the referee must address it effectively.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Once you accept that a goal was scored, play has stopped at that point so there can be no foul of any kind. However, any inappropriate action may and should be punished as misconduct. If the action didn't warrant a caution or send off, then take Ref Voshal's good advice to speak with the player.