Question Number: 27028

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/22/2012

RE: competitive College

Alex of Waukesha, WI USA asks...

Two general questions that I always forget the answers to. If two players commit a foul at the same time (say they are chasing down a ball and both elbow each other as they run) what do you do? I have heard that you do nothing since the fouls cancel each other out (this seems wrong to me), you just pick whatever player you thought committed the foul first so that nobody becomes injured, or you generally call the foul on the attacking player for a defenders advantage. I'm sure this is a gray area question, but what would be a good general response?

My second question is: is it a foul if a player cleanly slide tackles the ball away from another player but then either pushes the ball through their legs making them fall or hits the ball FIRST and then hits the players legs with their own making them fall. Basically can there be a foul if the player goes for the ball, gets the ball first, and then hits the player due to momentum.

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Touching the ball is not a defense. If a tackle is careless and the player's momentum causes him to go through the opponent, it still can be a foul even though the player made contact with the ball. OTOH, if a clean tackle results in the opponent falling over the outstretched leg, it still can be a fair challenge. Just as contact with the ball does not always mean 'no foul', contact with the opponent does not always mean foul. The referee needs to judge each tackle fair or foul

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Alex
Fouls rarely happen simultaneously. If they do the correct decision is a dropped ball.
However the referee must look for the 1st foul and that is the measure of the referee's ability as even if it a second between them that is sufficient.
As regards contact after a tackle the referee has to consider if it simply a coming together in which case there is no offence r whether the contact was careless or reckless. If however the contact is careless / reckless after winning the ball then that is a foul and also a caution. in the reckless one.

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