Question Number: 32030

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/17/2017

RE: Professional

engin ataman of olympia, WA United States asks...

Here is a penalty situation that I have my question about

http://tr.beinsports.com/haber/iste-quaresmanin-kacirdigi-penalti

and a different (better) look at 33rd-34th second of this video here

http://tr.beinsports.com/haber/besiktas-teleset-mobilya-akhisarspor

Referee shows a yellow card to the green player... shouldn't it have been red because the green jersey player fouls the white jersey player 'not' during an attempt to play the ball?

thank you :)h

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Engin
One of the problems that I foresaw with the change in the Law was that in the questionable situations referees might go more readily with a yellow card rather than red.
So it is a matter of a opinion whether there was a genuine attempt to play the ball or just a foul by the Green defender with no attempt to play the ball.This all happens in a split second and the referee does not have the benefit of video action replay or freeze frame to evaluate the foul. Was it an attempt to play the ball that end up as a foul or just a foul to prevent the ball being played. I believe the assistant referee may have been able to assist in the call yet ultimately it is the referees decision.
From viewing of it with the benefit of a video replay and from two different angles I would opine that it was a red card offence as the foul is a push in the back by the defender with no attempt to play the ball. The foul though happens at the moment the ball is beside the two players which makes it a difficult call.
The other interesting piece is that the referee gave significant benefit to both team on encroachment inside the penalty area and arc. On the penalty kick. One Green player is nearly level with the kicker at the moment of the kick although the ball falls to a White attacker who misses. There was without doubt sufficient grounds for a retake although retakes have become so contentious that referees rarely give them. At the moment of the kick there are 3 Green and 4 White closer than 10 yards from the ball.
In summary this penalty decision was a difficult call and if in doubt the referee may have gone with the caution. It was a poor penalty by White and perhaps a retake may have been a good decision in the circumstances.
The card decision though was made and it is not an obvious blatant incorrect call. Some look at these isolated incidents in a game. The game ended 0-0 and games are never decided on one call.
Score the penalty, win 1-0 and the card is not an issue really.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Engin,
as a decision on a fact of play yours would not be incorrect in law if that is how you viewed the event. It is conceivable the referee felt the foul was a careless tumble rather than a vicious swipe at the legs and given the pull back of FIFA in not automatically going with red card inside the PA as the PK is in fact a scoring opportunity, he may have felt ok in just showing the yellow in not forcing the team to ten.

The referee though in my opinion showed a certain laxness in the encroachment as both teams were nearly even with the PK shooter. In fact the keeper was likely the only player not in violation. I like to think that if I was the referee I would not have permitted a goal to stand off that rebound given how much encroachment there was but perhaps the referee felt justice was served on the miss & went with the goal kick rather than retake?

His Match! His Decision! His Reputation!
Cheers