Question Number: 28822

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/6/2014

RE: Select Under 13

Zach of Eagan, MN US asks...

I was coaching a game today and a decision by the referee was really confusing to me. Let's call my team 'Team 1' and the other team 'Team 2.'. A player from Team 2 was dribbling with speed towards Team 1's goal. The central defender from Team 1 attempted to steal the ball from said player on Team 2 and fell down in the process. The player from Team 1 was in front of the dribbling player from Team 2 when this occurred. Then the player from Team 2 who was dribbling towards the goal tripped over the player from Team 1 who was on the ground. The player from Team 1 did not intentionally trip the player from Team 2, but was the last defender for Team 1 between the player from Team 2 and the goal. This all occurred well outside the box, maybe 25 yards from goal. A foul was called and a penalty kick was awarded to Team 2. No card was issued to the player from Team 1 who was whistled for the foul. This was confusing to me on many levels, but here is my main question: Does soccer have a rule that a foul occurring outside the box that denies a breakaway opportunity will result in a penalty kick? I hope this all makes sense. Everything I can find in the FIFA rulebook states that a foul MUST occur inside the box to result in a penalty kick regardless of the circumstances. Is that correct?

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Zach,

From your description, this is very bizarre. Fouls are always considered at the point they occur - that means, a penalty kick can only be awarded if the defensive team commits a penal foul inside the penalty area; a foul that's committed outside cannot be 'brought inside' the penalty area.

As for the lack of card - Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity is the misconduct in question, and the severity of the foul has no impact. Referees are told to consider the direction of play, number of players between the attacker and the goal, distance from goal, and control of the ball (among other things). This means that being the last man doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be a red card, especially if he is some distance from the goal - there may be another defender in a position to chase him down before he's within shooting distance. Sometimes referees are very reluctant to issue the red card at a young age; however, if an obvious goalscoring opportunity exists, the referee really has no choice.

As for the foul, it's difficult to tell from the description if it was a correct decision or not. For a foul to occur, the player's actions must be careless at minimum (intent is not required).

Answer provided by Referee James Sowa

Zach,

A penalty kick can only be awarded if a direct free kick foul is committed by the defending team inside the box. That said, it is hard to gauge your scenario and it probably was a 'you had to be there'. Let's say that the referee was right in awarding the foul on the defender. From your description above, this sounds like a careless foul. This means that a yellow card is not necessary in this situation. That leaves the referee two options: Red for the DOGSO or no card.

When deciding if a foul denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity referees are to consider the four d's:

Direction of play
Distance to goal
Distance to ball
Defenders (number of)

The referee also needs to consider the opportunity of the attacker to play the ball. If the referee felt, minus the foul, the attacker would have had a goal scoring opportunity (in this case a breakaway) then the referee should show the red card.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Zach
As described this is an obvious error on behalf of the referee. A penalty kick can only be awarded if the penal foul happened inside the penalty area. As described the restart here should have been a direct free kick from where the defender fouled the attacker. It makes no difference if it was intentional or not.
Also if the foul by the defender denied an obvious goal scoring opportunity then the player would be dismissed. If the foul was tactical then the player would be cautioned for unsporting behaviour.
As regards the reason for the referees decision there can be a number of reasons. The most obvious one is the referee thought that the foul was inside the penalty area? A less likely scenario is that the referee decided that the most equitable decision was to award a penalty kick and leave it at that? Unlikely but who knows. Another possibility is the referee got confused and thought that the correct decision was a penalty kick? Also unlikely yet strange things happen.
I might add that the simplest way is to politely ask the referee after the game to explain the decision. If that is not done in a confrontational manner most referees are happy to explain.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Zach,
IF this incident occurs exactly as you described, you can tell from our befuddlement we are aghast that the referee would award a pk for a foul outside the Penalty area. It is a misapplication of law and such is protestable assuming you would want to and your league has the necessary structure to accommodate such a thing as a replay?

We have no idea as to what the referee is thinking here, so we are on fumes within the knowledge tank to explain any of this appropriately.
You are certainly correct in thinking the FIFA rulebook states that a DFK foul MUST occur inside the penalty area to result in a penalty kick!

Soccer has no rule that a foul occurring outside the penalty area that denies a breakaway opportunity will result in a penalty kick!
It is conceivable the referee has limited understanding of DOGSO and may well have thought this was appropriate (It is not of course) Who knows what level of understanding and knowledge on the learning curve is at work here??

I coached a team where my striker was in on the keeper who exited his penalty area and deliberately handled the ball in a similar location as yours . The referee awarded us a PK and no card was shown of any colour to the keeper. As a coach I was livid, as a referee I was stunned, because THIS match was a REPLAY of a PROTESTED MATCH which we had won where the referee erred in KFTPM portion of the last match. Now I was having this situation unfold, giving my usual calm inner glow a REAL workout lol

So crazy stuff does happen everywhere, It would be interesting though to have calmly asked the referee. 'Excuse me sir why a pk?| In my match I had tried to ask the AR to intervene and explain to the referee we needed a DFK at 25 yards and a card of some colour to the keeper preferably red of course as it was DOGSO but he felt intimidated by the referee! Plus the referee threatened to expel me from the field if I did not return to the technical area and be quiet. Bloody referees damn pain in the keester! lol
Cheers

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

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