Question Number: 31217

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 1/31/2017

RE: Competitive youth. Adult

Iain of Las Vegas, NV USA asks...

Situation: Girls U15 competitive game.
Player A and player B get into a shoving match after a challange for the ball, player A tries to punch player B.
I intervene and issue a RC to player A for VC and I verbally caution player B.
Question: Should I have cautioned both players for UB and then immediately RC player A for VC?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Iain
Your decision to dismiss Player A was correct. Attempt to strike is a dismissal offence. The red card for Player A deals with the more serious offence of violent conduct.
In respect of Player B you say you verbally cautioned the player. Was that a card? I would suggest that if your verbally cautioning the player in such circumstances then a card is appropriate. It shows as well that Player B was not fully exonerated from his involvement.
In these situations both players can be guilty of USB behaviour to some degree. One may start it yet many times is not just one way. It just so happened that one player here escalated his action to VC. In my game at the weekend a defender started USB pushing on an opponent who was already on a card. In fairness to the carded player he moved away so I was left with the easy task of one card for the defender. Had the carded player got involved again he was probably on his way for a second caution. He knew that as well.
You do not mention who started the incident. Was Player B the player that committed the foul? Who started the confrontation? What escalated it into VC by A? In your mind the *words* (assuming there was no caution) may have dealt with Player B yet that may look like lack of justice to the other players who may feel that Bs actions contributed to the situation and needed public sanction of a caution. That though is the referees call on the day although experience tells me that raised hands and verbals with no card sanction does not lead to good match control.
In your sending off report outline fully what happened and the disciplinary committee will make the appropriate sanction.
Generally when two incidents happen concurrently the more serious one is dealt with rather than two separate actions. So a player pushing an opponent that then escalates into VC would result in the two actions being treated as one from a disciplinary perspective rather than a caution for the pushing and a red card for a punch. If disconnected such as the caution for the first incident with a card shown and then a subsequent follow up action of VC would result in a second card.

Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The decision to send off Player A is spot on. Any time fists start swinging, that's violent conduct.

It's your decision, but you should really evaluate Player B's actions to see if she should have gotten a caution for unsporting behavior, not just a verbal.

There's no rationale for equal punishments for unequal behaviors. If one person's behavior is worse than the other, then the sanction should be worse. But whenever two players get into an altercation, you really need to decide if both need some kind of sanction.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

A punch or attempt to punch another player is a red card offence and if the pushing and the attempted punch are part of the same incident there's no need to show a yellow card first, just a straight red card. Whether you should have cautioned player B depends on the exact circumstances and is difficult to say without having seen the actual incident.

I would say that if there's been any kind of prolonged pushing match and it ends up with one player throwing a punch, it's relatively unusual (and for the reasons ref Mchugh states, possibly even ill-advised) for the other player not to get a yellow card. On the other hand of course, if you truly believe player B had done nothing to deserve a card, you could decide not to issue one.

Your match, your decision, your reputation.