Question Number: 32693

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/8/2018

RE: Adult

Gianluca of Wexford, Ireland asks...

This question is a follow up to question 32689

My friends who disagreed with me were not happy with the way I asked the question and felt I didn't ask the question properly

I think I explained what happened rather fairly that Asamoah throws his leg out towards the defender to initiate contact while they were running side by side but they disagreed and felt it should be a penalty regardless

Would you be willing to take a look at the video as they requested me to send it as they felt I was not explaining the situation properly

https://twitter.com/InterYaSkriniar/status/1031260037644251136

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Gianluca
The person with the best view of this I believe may have been the referee. The referee is directly in line with the two players looking at it from the rear.
In this situation the referee gives a free kick to the defender as he believes, no doubt, that the attacker has moved across into the path of the defender to create what looks like a foul and that is fouling the defender by doing so.
Side on view of this may looks like a penalty and as we said in earlier answers angle of view is key to the decision making in foul recognition.
Also at this Pro level referees have been trained to look for the *created* foul and may be aware or discussed as a group *fouls* that have created in the past.
One of the great Italian referees Pierluigi Collina advised referees to do their homework on tactics, player behaviour etc before each game. If I was aware of a players propensity to go down easily or look for fouls I would be paying particular attention to any contact involving those players.
So from what I see here I would support the referees call based on his great positioning. He obviously saw a foul by the attacker. So to say that it is a foul regardless of what the attacker does is incorrect.
Anyway there was only one decision that counted which was the referee on the day.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Gianluca,
I think you explained the situation quite well. As ref McHugh intimates, the referee in the game would almost certainly have had a much better view of this than we get from the angle shown in the clip.

I still think we can discern enough of a movement of the forward's leg across into the defender's path, to have a strong suspicion that the forward probably initiated the contact. If so, and if the referee judges that the defender has done nothing wrong but has actually been on the receiving end of the contact, then this would be either a foul or simulation by the forward rather than a penalty.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Gianluca,
there is no doubt the referee in this match is well aware of the LOTG and well aware of how players try to manage situations in their favour. I have refereed over 40 years, all we do in pre and post game sessions is discuss how hard players try to win nonexistent penalties, seek to dramatically enhance the possibility of a foul or out right cheat to gain an advantage.

Yet we can only see what we can see from where we are on the FOP when it occurs.

If we are unsure it sucks to award a PK for a subtle bit of trickery. Its rather like making a hero call in poker where you call the bluff and it turns out hey I WAS right he was full of BS. .

If the PK is OBVIOUS we are not worried about it we make the call.


You realize it is in the slowing down and dissection of the game through video review that makes us question the motivation of the players. It is difficult in REAL time to make the correct decision, hey the attacker DREW that foul not that the defender CAUSED that foul because we lean to the challenger as being the most likely culprit to cause the foul .

I did u 21 senior ladies match where a defender at full speed was pursuing a ball lobbed over her head that had massive backspin so when it hit the ground rather then roll forward it came backwards right at her. She tried to come to a stop to play the ball off her chest ,it nearly smacked her in the face but the opponent running step for step in behind her ran into her raised arms with the screams from the touchline she was elbowed in the head by this defender. In point of fact her father wanted to fight me for NOT calling the fact his daughter got smacked in the face.

The issue was in MY viewpoint his daughter RAN into the arm of the defender who was simply trying to play the ball . It was because the pursuit was at top speed and she was stride for stride but did not anticipate the defender stopping to play a ball reversing its direction. It was quite simply her face ran into the raised arm not that the raised arm was fired back into her face! I asked if she was ok I saw no blood so I let play continue. The cries were not only for a non existent foul by the defender they wanted the defender carded as well. Tough luck it was NOT a foul by the defender if anything it was a trifling foul by the attacker for running into the defender . There was NO reason to show a card.

It is difficult for those watching to grasp that a referee with integrity calls only what he sees. If there is graft or mafia involvement then the game has no future and whatever we say will change no ones opinion.
Cheers