Question Number: 25117

Law 5 - The Referee 6/20/2011

RE: Rec

Mike of Boston, MA USA asks...

In a recent MLS match, the attacking team was fouled inside the penalty arc.

The referee blew the whistle and quickly showed a yellow card.

The attacking team then took a quick restart which the referee allowed. (Side note: this appeared to confuse the AR who was not in a good position to call offside on the restart).

This doesn't appear correct.

Once the referee decides to call the foul and issue a caution, I didn't think play could be restarted without another whistle from the referee.

If the referee hasn't yet shown the yellow card but intends to, can he allow the quick restart and later caution the player?

What is the correct procedure that balances giving the attacking team the option of quickly restarting play with the need to caution a defending player?

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

A whistle is required to restart play after a caution is shown.

If the referee intends to caution a player, but then sees that the team prefers a quick restart, the referee has to choose: (a) stop everything, and caution the player or (b) allow the restart, but forfeit the ability to caution the player.

In deciding (a) or (b), the referee needs to consider the effect that showing or (not showing) the card will have on the players or the game and balancing that with the real prospects for a goal scoring opportunity with the actual skill levels of the players involved. It is high art for the referee, similar to the application of advantage. My experience is that in most amateur play, the need to address harsh contact (reckless fouls) almost always outweighs a quick restart. The need to address tactical misconduct rarely does.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Mike
When a caution has been issued the referee must restart the game on the whistle. The referee has intervened in play and he has engaged a player in conversation about his behaviour and the caution process. That process has more than likely taken the player away from his marking duties and a QFK is then not possible.
If the referee allows play to restart quickly then the referee cannot return to caution the offending player. The referee has to balance the decision whether to allow play to restart quickly which will benefit the attacking team or whether is it necessary to stop the restart to caution the player for match control purposes .
My advice is that if the referee believes that it is a caution then play should not be allowed to restart quickly.

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

See Question: 25174