Question Number: 29884

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/3/2015

RE: Adult

rosie of oxford, oxfordshire asks...

i played a game sunday and after the game my manager spoke to me about the yellow card i gained during the game but i am sure i didn't get booked. i had a few conversations with the ref during the game but never did he show me a yellow card. i just want to check if a ref can book a player without them knowing. there were a few other bookings during the game and the ref called the players back over to show them the card. please can someone help me on this!!

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

It's not supposed to happen. But it possibly could - for instance, if the ref's cards were lost. It is really strange that he showed cards to other players but not to you.

Showing the card is not the caution; it's a visual signal that the player was cautioned. Cards were invented to overcome issues of language, where a player would not understand that the ref was cautioning him.

The Laws of the Game state that the procedure is to caution and show the yellow card. But if the card wasn't shown, that doesn't get you off the hook.

What does the game report show?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Rosie
Players should know that they are cautioned and that is the whole purpose of Yellow cards. The player is shown the card as part of the cautioning process.
Now I have had plenty of times that players ignore me when I'm showing them the yellow card. I do my upmost to ensure that they see that I am raising the card and that there is no doubt about the caution.
In this instance why did the manager think that you were cautioned? Did he think that as the referee spoke to you that it was a caution? I recall last season I spoke to a player about his behaviour and 10 minutes later I had to caution him. A spectator approached me at the end of the game to enquire why the player was not sent off for two cautions. Very simple I only spoke to him in the first occasion with no card and I cautioned on the 2nd with a card shown. That was not the spectators view and he assumed incorrectly that a card was shown on the 1st occasion which it was not.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi rosie,
I have seen poor mechanics by officials showing a card to a retreating player who is not watching and simply write the # of the player in the book without actually speaking to the player. Cards are a visual aid, a language communicator to indicate a player is either being cautioned, show a yellow card or sent off be shown a red card. In the case of some leagues there are blue/green cards to indicate penalty timeouts. If your manager spoke to you did he see the card shown to you? What is written in the match report?

Perhaps he wrote your name or # to cautionable action foul attributed to a different player? Given you state he was consistent in indicating to others he was cautioning them it does seem odd if you were not? The fact that a card was not shown might not to nullify the misconduct if the referee says he cautioned the player in his report. The LOTG do say
If the offence warrants a caution, it must be issued at the next stoppage.
If the caution is NOT issued at the next stoppage, it cannot be shown later the opportunity to do so is lost!
Certainly worth questioning but no guarantee of remedial action!

Cheers

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

See Question: 29888