Question Number: 31012

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/11/2016

RE: Competitive Under 17

Aaron Speca of Virginia Beach, VA United States asks...

This question is a follow up to question 31005

I remember a BPL match I was watching a couple of years ago where the attacking player was alone on a break and the keeper came out to challenge outside the PA on the left side. The attacker made a touch past the keeper and the keeper collided with him, but the attacker managed to keep his feet, get to the ball, and shoot wide of the empty goal from a sharp angle. CR never blew the whistle, but after the shot was wide he awarded the free kick and sent the keeper off for a DOGSO. In that case, because the attacker righted himself before shooting, my thought was that the CR believed he would have had a better angle to shoot if he was not hindered by the keeper's actions and could have gotten to the ball quicker. Just an example of yet another consideration by the CR. I think the CR was right to let the play continue to see if the attacker would score and then was also right to award the DFK and send the keeper off in the end given what he saw.

(Of course, what NO ONE saw until slow motion replay including apparently all the players, referees, spectators, announcers, and television watchers was that the touch the attacker took to beat the keeper was with his fist thrusting forward at his side!)

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Aaron
The referee has to opine on a *what happens next* without the foul actually occurring. It is a sort of guesstimating the run of the ball, the position of the players etc and then deciding whether a goal scoring opportunity was denied or not. Most times when the foul is brought back there is every chance that the referee will dismiss. The more infuriating one for teams is where advantage is not played and a goal has to chalked with a free kick awarded. When a player fouls an opponent there is little sympathy for him when he is sanctioned for the foul.