Question Number: 31007

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/9/2016

RE: Rec Adult

Greg Kall of SF, CA USA asks...

This question is a follow up to question 935

Isn't the caution based on 'reckless' DFK offense as opposed to unsporting behavior?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Greg
I did not think that readers went that far back on the site!
Anyway unsporting behaviour is the catch all term for such cautions and the acronym used is still relevant with the U referring to unsporting behaviour which includes reckless challenges.
The circumstances when a player must be cautioned for unsporting behaviour are listed on page 85 of the current law booklet and the 3rd bullet point states and I quote *commits in a reckless manner a direct free kick offence*

Answer provided by Referee MrRef

Hi Greg,
I posted disclaimer on the front page to REMIND that we have been answering Q&A for over 17 years ! WOW! We have indeed amassed a huge storage of Q@As that give a wide latitude of ideas information and procedures unfortunately the LOTG have undergone several major and many minor revisions over that time period which renders older answers as incomplete or outright incorrect! Be sure and look to the date as well as review the LATEST LOTG

IFAB 2016 - 2017 LOTG
The new Laws of the Game can be viewed here and will be effective from 1st June 2016
http://www.theifab.com/#!/document


From our pitch to your pitch in the spirit of fair play.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Greg,

As Ref McHugh points out, as per the Laws of the Game a 'reckless DFK offense' still falls under the heading of unsporting behaviour. Just to give an example, under (English) FA caution codes, this would be a C1 offence, C1 being the code used for USB. The C1 code then has 10 sub-categories including RP for reckless play and FT for a foul tackle.

Other associations would likely have different caution codes but would quite possibly still have this under the general category of USB.