Question Number: 27434

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/16/2013

RE: Recreation Adult

Ben Rogers of Los Angeles, CA USA asks...

Sorry for the length of these questions I am still trying to wrap my head around this concept.

My teammate was penalized for deception while on defense. We play in an 8v8 rec league with full sized goals. The ball was sent curling into the box by an opposing player to his teammate. Our two defenders were close by and going up to challenge. One defender said 'Mine' rising above everyone and heading the ball away. Yet still this was deemed as deception.

I played soccer recreationally and in high school and have never in my life heard this call before. I guess I can see the point of it being called unsporting behavior, but If you win the ball after calling 'mine' on defense, how is that deception? Separately, if you were on offense and you and your teammate happen to be close and you tell your teammate 'leave it' so the ball can run through, and then you still get to the ball, isn't that just good communication between two players? I have never seen a professional cautioned for distracting a player.

To a degree the sport itself is deceiving. Take the 'dummy' move or other creative set pieces where a player runs over the ball distracting the defense while another player takes the free kick. Should these plays also be considered unsporting behavior? Or is that just good football?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Ben,

Saying 'mine' (or similar) is not an automatic offence, but if it's done as a deliberate act of distraction or deception then it is unsporting behaviour. In the situation you've described a defender could potentially say 'mine' hoping an attacker believes it's his teammate saying that, thus doesn't challenge for the ball. Assuming the referee's interpretation of the law is correct I'd imagine that's what he believes has happened, rightly or wrongly.

Screaming it right next to an opponent could potentially also be an offence.....

Of course there is some deception in the game, but dummies and trick passes are part of the normal course of play. Bringing verbal deception into the game is different and taking deception too far. Tricking an opponent verbally is considered to be outside of the bounds of what's acceptable in this sport, hence is cautionable.

I also have never seen a professional cautioned for distracting a player in this fashion - but in all my years I've only ever once cautioned a player for this (though there's been a couple of times where I gave a player the benefit of the doubt). It's just something that's rarely done.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Ben
Unfortunately throughout the world the issue of verbal deception comes up regularly. There is a mistaken belief that communicating with a team mate without using a name is an offence punished by an IDFK. That is totally incorrect. There is no such IDFK offence but it does not stops players shouting "No name Ref" looking for a cheap IDFK to be awarded
What does exist is an unsporting behaviour caution for verbally distracting an opponent during play or at a restart. The restart after the caution is an IDFK.
So the question the referee had to ask in your game was whether your team mate verbally distracted an opponent from playing the ball by shouting 'Mine'? Personally I doubt it just as if had he shouted 'Joe's Ball'. By using the name the question does then not arise. In addition players do commonly use a name which adds to the myth.
So the real test should be whether the 'shout' was deserving of a caution. An example would be a player shouting 'Miss It' at a kicker or covertly shouting to change an opponent's playing decision such as shouting 'Keeper' at a defender hoping that the defender allows the ball past him to the advantage of attackers. That is unsporting, a caution and an IDFK restart.