Question Number: 30510

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 6/14/2016

RE: Adult

referee of syd, nsw aus asks...

Hi

with the new laws regarding player leaving field to commit offense or without permission is the restart now DFK from where ball is or boundary line? of play is stopped to give a yellow for dissent it is still a idk from where offences is? also with changing dogso to a yellow if they make attempt to get ball is this only inside pen or outside too and how can one judg, Players always sayTHEY ARE GOING FOR THE BALL. Silly change. please explain

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
If the offence is committed as part of play off the FOP the restart is a direct free kick on the boundary line nearest to where the offence took place. The key here is part of play. If the player leaves to say commit an offence the restart does not change as per the old laws. To quote the current law * if the player leaves the field of play to commit the offence, play is restarted with an indirect free kick from the position of the ball when play was stopped. However, if a player leaves the field of play as part of play and commits an offence against another player, play is restarted with a free kick taken on the boundary line nearest to where the offence occurred; for direct free kick offences a penalty kick is awarded if this is within the offender’s penalty area *
In respect of the IDFK for dissent that restart is from where the offence took place, which has not changed.
Now in respect of the DOGSO the referee has to decide as usual if it is a penalty or not. If there is no penalty there must be a red card if the DOGSO conditions are met. If there is a penalty the referee can decide to caution instead of a dismissal provided there is a genuine attempt to play the ball. Fouls that are cynical and not genuine attempts to win the ball must still be punished as a dismissal. Examples would be holding, pushing, and pulling. What the change is saying is that when a DOGSO offence is committed by a defender in the penalty area, the penalty kick effectively restores the goal-scoring opportunity so the punishment for the player should be less strong than when the offence is committed outside the penalty area.
The change us IFABs attempt to deal with the so called triple punishment of a sending off, a penalty kick and a suspension. Many felt that the triple was just too much when a goal was generally scored from a resultant penalty kick ie 9 out of 10 penalties are converted.