Question Number: 30443

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/21/2016

RE: Comp Adult

DeWayne of Layton, Utah USA asks...

I've been reading up on denial of an obvious goal and would like some clarification. If a player has a fast break and there is not another defender between him and the goalie and another player trips him from behind without touching the ball (about 2 feet from the box) is that an automatic red card. Or if they hit the player from the side without touching the ball and causes the player to fall would that be a red card. Seems like the rule is rather vague and doesn't have a lot of clarifications.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi DeWayne,

There are 2 things to look at here:

1) Was it a foul?
2) Was there an obvious goalscoring opportunity?

Denying an Obvious Goalscoring Opportunity (DOGSO) isn't a particular type of foul - it's simply stating that any foul which denies an opponent's OGSO must be met with a red card.

There are a few things we consider with DOGSO - number of players between the attacker/ball and the goal, control of the ball (or likelihood of control), distance from goal, direction to goal. By your description it's a 1 on 1 with the keeper, with no other defender in a position to intercept before shooting range and heading directly for the goal. So, there's a clear OGSO. Thus, any foul is a red card. It doesn't have to be a serious foul - even a simple mistimed one will suffice. This will change when the 16/17 laws come into effect for competitions beginning after 1st july 2016 (some international matches held before then well be using the new laws), where a foul inside the penalty area that has a genuine chance of getting the ball may only be a red card (some foul types, such as holding, are excluded). As your scenario was outside the PA, it's not relevant here.

For your 2 cases - would they be fouls anywhere else on the field? If so, that answers your question.

To help, tackling a running opponent from behind, missing the ball and tripping the opponent is a clear foul.

The shoulder charge scenario is more complex. The referee will have a 'feel' for whether they're playing the ball or the player. Typically if a lot of force was used in the side-on charge, or if there's a last heavy step and a drop of the shoulder, these becomes fouls as there's no way the opponent can defend against those. When a player sprints from the side and charges the opponent at speed from an oblique angle, this is usually a foul. When coming from behind it's tricky - if the defender's shoulder is in the back of the opponent's shoulder, this is still a charge from behind so a foul. He really needs to be level before trying to muscle his way into the right line for the ball - and sometimes the opponent will fall over from a fair challenge.

If there's anything else you're unclear on feel free to post another question.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
This law was introduced to prevent / discourage / sanction the foul by the defending team that denies an obvious goal or a goal scoring opportunity. It is left to the referee to determine whether a denial existed or not at the moment of the foul. To assist referees the Laws outline what is referred to as the 4Ds. These are
# the Distance between the offence and the goal
# the likelihood of keeping or gaining control of the ball Distance to the ball
#the Direction of the play
# the location and number of Defenders
All four conditions must be present to send off the player.
Now each can be expanded. So the further away from goal the less likely that it is obvious, if the attacker does not have control of the ball it is not obvious, if play is not towards goal and there are other defenders present to make a further challenge then the opportunity is less likely to be present and obvious.
Now there will be fouls that are stonewall red cards and then there will be ones that are not. To use a scale of 10 there will be fouls at either end of the scale with obvious ones at 10 and ones that will be 1. The ones in the middle around 4/6 always cause problems for the referee. Here are two 10s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkAz5CT6apM&app=desktop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1TmCNv2YLk
Here is a 6. Referee went with red as he believed all for D conditions were present or likely to be present without the foul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CKgOi466jM