Question Number: 32681

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/2/2018

RE: Pro Adult

Zach of Istanbul, Turkey asks...

Hello

Can hou plz comment on the penalty given, in the link below. Is it a penalty? Does it have any resemblance with the Neymar penalty that was retracted by VAR?
Thnx
https://youtu.be/0jCvNur7jUI?t=1m26s

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Zach,
most definitely a slingshot hold with the arm across the chest and pull back, some exaggeration on the fall by the attacker. Reasonable PK decision, theatrics aside.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Zach,
While this may not be the most egregious offence you might ever see, there is certainly enough there to justify a penalty in my opinion. More importantly, the referee in the game considered it to be a penalty offence, and I don't see anything that would lead to this being recommended for a VAR review, even had that system been in use.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Zach
From the video shown this was a foul and as it happened inside the penalty area the restart was a penalty kick. Soccer is a contact sport and not all contact is a foul. The referee has to determine if the contact is sufficient to award the foul or not. Here he decided it was.
To me it is poor defending as there are three defenders in close proximity and there is little threat so no need to hold back the attacker by raising an arm across his chest close to the referee. Yes there is some theatrics by the attacker yet many do this to ensure the referee sees the foul contact.
In the infamous Neymar one there was also a reach out across the lower body and the defender then moves his arm away as he probably thinks better of it. Neymar after the arm is removed, felt the contact then threw himself back as if the contact caused that to happen. VAR in that instance saw, I expect, that there was not sufficient contact to award a foul and that the arm did not cause the pull back to the ground the way it would have looked to the referee.
If VAR had been used in your example I believe it would have confirmed the penalty decision as there was no obvious error by the referee. The whole basis of the penalty area is to discourage foul contact in and around the penalty area. No raised arm by the defender means no possible foul.