Question Number: 33590

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 8/20/2019

RE: Adult

Frantisek Cicko of Bradford, West Yorkshire England asks...

Hi my firend was trying to score a bicycle kick he was going for the ball he was actualy in the air to hit the ball but the oponent pushed him with body and said he didnt seen him is a foul ????

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Frantisek
Very difficult to say without actually seeing it.
Now your friend say that he was in the air and an opponent pushed him. Based on that a push on an opponent is a foul punished by a direct free kick or penalty kick.
Now was he pushed? We know that to execute a bicycle kick a player must move his upper body to leverage up his leg to kick the ball. Did that action move your friend into an opponent close to him which can feel like a push?
In addition the bicycle kick by it nature has a boot in a high position which can be a danger to opponents close by. If an opponent is close enough to push he is also close enough to a high boot which can be considered playing in a dangerous manner or if there is contact a kick on an opponent.
Generally on these bicycle kicks the focus of attention is on the kick action which means that less focus is on what is happening between opponents.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Frantisek,
The law says it is an offence to push an opponent, ''in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force.'' So if the referee considers the push you describe as falling into one of those three categories, then they would award a direct free kick or a penalty for it. If however, the referee judged that the contact between the players was a simple 'coming together' (perhaps caused more by the way your friend had launched himself into the air than by his opponent's actions) then the referee would not award a free kick or penalty to your friend's team.

There is also the possibility, as mentioned by my colleagues, that a referee could see the bicycle kick by your friend as an act known as 'playing in a dangerous manner' (or PIADM) and award a free kick against your friend. It's extremely difficult to say really, without actually seeing the incident in question.

I would say that many times, if a player is already off the ground and is pushed by an opponent while airborne, the push will be seen as an offence but as I have outlined above that is not necessarily the case every time.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Frantisek,
a bicycle kick is spectaculer when it works, it is also a possible PIADM violation if performed unsafely. It could even be a DFK if unsafe contact occurs. Whether a defender pushed or charged him unfairly would be a decision the referee of the match must contemplate? Depending on circumstances a legal shoulder charge could be attempted by the defender just as the attacker was going into the air. It might depend on which player had better position to play that ball or if the ball WAS within a reasonable playing distance. Just because the attacker left his feet does not prevent a defender, who has not, from legally challenging via a legal charge.
Cheers