Question Number: 31762

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/6/2017

RE: Semi pro Adult

Luke Morton of coventry, West Midlands United Kingdom asks...

2 questions. 1st can a ref give a pen for intent? Our goalkeeper came out to meet player and ball realised he wasn't getting there so pulled out and no contact was made but player went down. Ref said himself there was no contact.

2nd is we had a player sent off for kicking the ball back towards where foul had been committed on him,there was an opposing player on the floor and the ball struck the player on the floor on the head,the ref said this was serious foul play,is this correct?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Luke
There are a number of fouls that do not require contact for the offence to be called
A direct free kick is awarded if a player commits any of the following offences against an opponent in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:•
# jumps at
# kicks or attempts to kick
# strikes or attempts to strike
# trips or attempts to trip
So contact is not part of awarding a foul. The referee deemed that one of the offences did happen. As a referee I hear all the time * I got the ball ref* or * I never touched him ref* neither of which are a defense of not committing a foul. For instance a lunge with both feet at a player missing the player and ball is a foul. Also playing the ball in a manner where a player follows through in a reckless manner is also a foul plus a card. Now the problem is that legacy issues still hang around going back many many years. I listened to a former PL manger say that there was nothing wrong in a particular challenge in the Bournemouth v Man City game where a player at speed played the ball and scythed through into the opponent. He saw nothing wrong with it yet it was clearly very dangerous and reckless. Indeed t should have been at least a yellow.
On your second question the referee obviously felt that the kick of the ball towards the player on the ground was deliberate and therefore violent conduct. Many times make the excuse that the kick of the ball towards the player was giving the ball back and sometimes that is the case. Clearly context, position, mood etc all have to be factored into the decision

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Luke,
As Ref McHugh states, there are a number of fouls where an 'attempt' qualifies. For instances, a player comes through with a late slide tackle right at the player, forcing the player to jump over the defender. This would be an attempt to trip - and a foul might be called. An extreme example is taking a wind-up to kick an opponent but missing - it's still a direct free kick foul.

The referee may have seen something different to you - you saw the keeper pull out the referee may have seen the keeper run at the player.

Bear in mind that if the attacker, in avoiding an attempt to kick or strike, loses possession (Eg by having to jump out of the way), this is a clear impact on play.

It's difficult to judge the decision without being there, of course. The fact that the ref felt there was a foul really suggests that he has a different opinion on what happened to what you did.

Although charging at a player then pulling away still wouldn't be a foul - there's no 'attempts' in charging, although play could be stopped to issue a card and restart with an indirect free kick.

For your second one, kicking the ball at the head of a player on the ground could certainly constitute violent conduct (can't be serious foul play if the ball is out of play). The LOTG are very strict on contact against the head - because, by definition, such contact in an out-of-play situation is excessive, it really needs to be negligible contact to only be a caution - so referees now have less discretion. Accidents happen, of course, but if the referee believes it was cynical then a red card sounds appropriate. Again, ref saw one thing, you saw another. But I hope this helps you understand what the referee may have been thinking.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Luke,
When it comes to physical contact fouls, referees do not consider intent. The question of intent in this context was removed from the laws in 1995. However they do penalise attempts to kick, strike or trip an opponent. It is also an offence to challenge a player in a manner that is careless, reckless or uses excessive force. So if the referee saw your keeper's actions as one of these kinds of fouls then it would be within the law to penalise it.

As for the second incident, it could be seen as an offence of violent conduct to strike an opponent in the head with the ball and if so, this would indeed be a sending-off offence.

Whether the referee made the 'correct' decisions here is difficult to say without actually seeing the incidents in question but they would both be permissible under the law.