Question Number: 33160

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 3/18/2019

RE: Under 17

jake of las vegas, nv usa asks...

Please see my attached beautiful diagram. Should this sort of foul always be a YC for UB (tactical foul)? Attacker A has ball running up sideline with no defenders directly in front of them on the opponent's half of the field towards goal and a defender B fouls them. This sort of foul happens frequently in games I do and sometimes I give a caution, sometimes not. Even if the attacker is not running directly at the goal but up the sideline?

https://i.imgur.com/thGfpgC.png

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jake
The offence can merit a card for a number of reasons
It was done for tactical reason to prevent a promising attack
It was a reckless challenge
It was committed by a player who has been persistently infringing the Laws.
The offence was not a genuine attempt to play the ball such as a blatant shirt pull, rugby tackle etc
The mood of the game has turned sour with multiple cards needed to control discipline.

So each situation will be different and it is up to the referee to decide whether the offence merited a card or not. The game is not about X action requires Y response. A response could be a card, a stern talking to or for that matter little action with the attacking team getting on with play without any complaint or issue.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Jake,
It rarely is safe to say never or always when it comes to decisions on the FOP. Depends on the match dynamics & ITOOTR will always factor in the decision. Some are utterly clear!
In your case a tactical foul if it is a blatant hold or obviously late tackle and strictly done to prevent an opponent from continuing his attacking play with no chance the ball was the target yes a caution is probably justified. If there was a semblance or a remote chance of a legit challenge and it was not overly reckless then we might only offer a DFK . There may yet still be a slight chance of DOGSO if say the ball was pushed towards the goal and the run was down the touchlines to run around the defender with no chance of other defenders being in place to stop the run at goal? Persistent infringement is another possibility as a slower player often repeatedly grabs or tries to hold up a faster opponent.
Cheers