Question Number: 29854

Law 5 - The Referee 10/25/2015

RE: Competive Under 13

Gary Crawford of Somerset, PA USA asks...

A Green player (#1) has the ball and is on the far right side of the penalty area of the opposing Orange team
Another Green player (#2) is knocked down by a Orange player inside the penalty area

I took it as the Orange player got aggressive trying to prevent the Green player (#2) from receiving the ball and possibly scoring

How should this be addressed

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Gary, A referee can only call what they know to be true!
What did you see occur?
You address it for what it is!
How was the green player knocked down by the orange player? Did they bump into each other as a 50 /50 ? Was the green player offside and created the problem? So perhaps an INDFK out, but punish the orange for misconduct only?
From the sounds of it we could have grounds to stop play and restart by awarding a PK for a push, charge, strike, trip... if indeed that is what occurred? The fact that a the ball is in play and the action occurs on the FOP but away from the ball inside the opposition's penalty area , it is punished for what it is and how it is done as a foul. careless just a INDFK or a DFK thus a PK ( inside the orange PA ). If there is additional MISCONDUCT attached i.e. reckless USB cautionable show a yellow card or excessive i.e. violent misconduct show a red card and send off. Mind you if you miss the action and only see a player down it is difficult to make a call you are unaware of. Be sure your ARs are spotting those in behind out of your sight fouls so they can relay you neutral information.!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Gary
The answer lies in what transpired between Green #2 and Orange inside the penalty area. The ball is not a requirement for a foul so off the ball incidents are punished in the same way as if the ball was present.
Now *taking it* is different from actually seeing what happened. Did Orange push, pull, strike the Green player? Did Green run into Orange? Were both player bumping each other? Did Green slip as he ran perhaps falling into Orange? Did Green try to look for a foul by running into Orange? Only seeing the incident and deciding what actually happened is the only way to deal with this.
If you saw Orange aggressively push, charge, pull, strike Green knocking him to the ground then it is a penalty kick and more than likely a caution for Orange for USB. If you did not see the event merely witnessed the outcome then all you can do is either wait till the ball goes out of play and have words with both players or if you stop play then it is a dropped ball from where the ball was when play was stopped.
By the way off the ball incidents are very difficult to deal with as the referees attention is elsewhere focussing on the ball. The infamous Suarez biting incidents in the 2013 English Premier League and the 2014 World Cup springs to mind. The referees were unable to deal with them during the match as they nor the ARs saw the incidents and players ended up in a heap in the penalty area. It was proven later with video evidence what actually transpired. had they been seen in real time they were dismissal for violent conduct and direct free kick restarts.