Question Number: 34225

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 5/18/2021

RE: Adult

Kenneth Baggott of Washington, Tyne & Wear England asks...

If a player goes to kick the ball and his opponent comes in from the side and puts his foot between the kicker and the ball resulting in the kicker, kicking into the opponent.
He did not see him coming and was already in motion when the opponent came in.
It this a free kick?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Kenneth
Thanks for the question.
Law 12 tells us that is an offence punished by a direct free kick or penalty kick if a player kicks an opponent. Also it is in the opinion of the referee if it was careless or reckless on a challenge for the ball.
So if a player manages to get to and play the ball before an opponent who then ends up kicking that player that is an offence against the opponent for kicking a player.
Now sometimes it is not clear cut and it may look like the player who has got kicked has in fact fouled his opponent with no clear contact on the ball.
In the Leicester v Chelsea game that actually happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrqnmJew3iw
The referee gave a free kick as I assume he was of the opinion that the Chelsea player prevented the Leicester player from playing the ball. Had the Chelsea player played the ball then a penalty may have been awarded. VAR looked at it as well so I would say the contact on the ball or not may have been the deciding factor in the foul by the Chelsea player.
Have a look at this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UunafTX3JQg&t=71s
In this instance White has clearly played the ball and he was kicked by the Red defender which should have resulted a penalty kick. It was not seen by the referee and VAR was not available and no decision was made.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Kenneth,
it's a great question because it is a difficult decision in real-time. If the interposed foot does not make contact with the ball it could be a tripping action, not a kicking action. Keep in mind that if a player exposes the ball to be played and does not see or recognize an opponent is making the most of that opportunity because they are focused only on crossing ball or shooting that is their own misjudgment and their actions will matter and could be deemed careless or reckless. We also must pay attention to where there is body contact or arm pushing/holding .
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Kenneth,
It's a good question. For a foul of kicks or attempts to kick (or trips or attempts to trip) to have occurred - which this falls under, it must be careless at a minimum.

Careless is defined in the laws as when a player shows a lack of attention or consideration when making a challenge or acts without precaution.

In the situations you describe, it can go either way - but if we say that Red has possession and Blue has come in and stuck the foot between Red and the ball and gets kicked, usually it's Blue's fault.

Ask yourself, who is at fault? Who acted with a lack of attention?

If the player with the ball has taken a swing, using a completely reasonable amount of force, is it their fault that suddenly, out of their view, a leg comes in? It's a little different if it's a 50-50 challenge, but I suppose we give them a little bit of leeway as they have possession. If a player comes in and sticks his leg in the path of the leg making the kick, it's usually going to be a foul by them - especially considering that it's usually done once the kick has already commenced.

If you have the situation where both players are making a 50-50 challenge, then usually it's the player who has the leg behind - the one whose leg strikes the other's calf - who is at fault.