Question Number: 33290

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/30/2019

RE: Rec Adult

Tony of Dahlgren, va usa asks...

What is the FIFA cleats up rule in soccer. Under what circumstances is it a foul and what type of foul?

Thank you in advance.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Tony,
Some very obvious videos are out there that clearly show horrendous studs up tackles but it is also true MANY of these are only defined by the horrible result AND the slow motion, roll back replays of stored video logs that an on field referee might not have seen as clearly in real time.

You ask when it is a foul or not a foul ?

It rests upon the referee of the match being able to discern from a good angle just what is occurring and judging it correctly as to it being fair, careless, reckless or excessive when it comes to a free kick and whether it exceeds the misconduct boundaries of a reasonable effort gone awry as USB versus the send off and shame of the red sleigh ride SFP or VC .

In the professional game they will review and often add punishment or find fault at incidents unseen or misinterpreted. That is not available to those who dwell in the grassroots pitches and parks. We have but one opportunity in real time. A referee must
understand the game, work on positioning to see well at good angles, not falter when a player exceeds his abilities or ignores the opposition's safety using their studs as a weapon . These type of tackles are often CMI moments! We call them, 'critical match incidents,' because a failure on our part to correctly deal with it can lose us control of the match

There is no foul called 'cleats up' but it a description that is used to describe a certain TYPE of tackle where a straight leg challenge shows the bottom of the shoe towards the opponent, hence the studs are showing as the direction & force of such a tackle endangers the safety of the opponent as the impact of such a tackle is severe, with gouges of flesh, broken bones and even career ending injuries.

A straight leg slide tackle can drive these studs into the foot or ankle of a player or of the leg is raised off the ground, it can come over top the ball into the shin or knee with terrible consequences. Studs are made of hard plastic or aluminum and while not pointed their small size is what creates so much damage as the point of impact is magnified into a small stud but the force of the mass and speed of the player is behind the impact point driving the stud deep into the body or flesh of the opponent almost as a cutting tool.

While we often think cleats up as the use of studs as a weapon, cleats directed down like a stomp. jump or a run over are equally damaging and as likely to be seen as SFP or VC rather than USB.

It is true that getting to the ball first with studs up by a lunging defender as long a they were not pointing into the player, say at an angle out in front and the attacker then falls over the leg might be seen as a perfectly legal tackle. Where if it was poorly timed and late where the foot up, thus studs up, with a locked straight leg that may hit the ball first but carry up & over into the player with no chance to avoid contact we are back into a foul as that tackle is at the very minimum careless, obviously reckless or very possibly excessive.

Players challenging opponents for the ball have a duty of safety & control! To tackle without regard for your opponent is going to land you in trouble.

Plain & simple, even if you miss him and he jumps to avoid you the ACT itself maybe seen as an attempt to trip or a jump or an attempt kick or at the very least PIADM . So not only a free kick but possibly a card for the degree on which the referee sees it as misconduct.

My colleague like to show the Rooney video clip where he is shown the yellow card for exactly this type of behavior.

Yet in the same sense a player trying to make a good tackle but realizes CRAP I am arriving late here, may well be trying to pull back the leg, bend the knee trying to minimize said impact and wind up as only giving away a free kick or receiving a caution for the reckless or USB aspect & not a red card send off for SFP or excessive force.

Foul recognition is as much art as it is science but only exposure to it can you begin to get good at it! Mentors, assessments ,training, physical effort, an indomitable will, to understand the game understand the LOTG, understand the players, what it means for them to play this game.. Players know if you GET it, because when these CMI moments occur if you could view the eyesight of every one there, ALL turn in your direction and are asking, 'What did you see ref??? What are YOU going to do? How well you saw and how well you understood what you saw, could go a long way to calming or riling up those emotions even if you saw nothing or decided to produce a card and reduce a team by one! How well you sell that decision is on you, your effort,'knowledge, experience and character to persevere. Because as referee even if you are occasionally wrong for that moment you best be right.

https://youtu.be/ifl4A7vRdgU

clear red card studs into the lower leg nasty

https://youtu.be/wXO_XkfThQY

some very clear studs up but notice a few that the player tried to pull away or was almost accidental

https://youtu.be/HBuHchF9Irc

this SHOULD have been a straight red only yellow watch players reaction

https://youtu.be/hFFUxx2OlhI

a repeat of one 2nd yellow was totally accidental but look at the last one again totally accidental totally red card


Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Tony
While the lLaw does not expressly state it the game takes a very negative view of challenges where a player raises his boot with studs exposed to an opponent where there is a high risk of the studs making contact with an opponents shin, ankle etc. Clearly contact by studs can cause a nasty injury hence the requirement that such challenges are clear fouls along with either a caution for being reckless or a red card if excessive force is used.
Now it is not a blanket ban on raised feet challenges as there can be times when there is no risk such the players are not close to each other or where perhaps the players are facing the same direction with both players raising their feet at the same time to try to play the ball.
So it is very much in the opinion of the referee although many times a raised boot with studs showing will attract howls of protest which requires the referee to opine on the risk and if the challenge is considered reckless or not.
Once there is contact it is always a direct free kick offence whereas sometimes a raised boot that makes no contact might be seen as playing in a dangerous manner which is an indirect feee kick offence.
In my game at the weekend a player raised his foot to play the ball which was in a completely different direction to a challenging opponent. As the boot was raised yet no contact was made I saw it as playing in a dangerous manner with an indirect free kick restart. I am sure if the boot was viewed from face on the sole if the boot would have been exposed yet it was not as what is referred to as a *studs up* type challenge.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Tony,
The IFAB, who are responsible for the Laws of the Game (not FIFA) make no reference in the law to a 'cleats up' or 'studs up' challenge. Any challenge that is judged by the referee to be careless, reckless or which uses excessive force is a foul. The law also says the following:

''A tackle or challenge that endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality must be sanctioned as serious foul play.

Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force or endangers the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play.''

What I would say is that any challenge where the player leads with the sole of the foot, is inherently more likely to be considered as at least reckless and in many cases will probably be seen as a use of excessive force and/or will be in the nature of a lunge that endangers the safety of an opponent. That is not automatically the case but it very often is.

If for instance a player makes forceful contact with an opponent with the sole of the foot (or more especially both feet) then there is a very, very high possibility that this will be judged as serious foul play for endangering the safety of an opponent and the player will receive a red card.