Question Number: 34494

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 2/2/2022

RE: Adult

Sagy of Austin, Texas USA asks...

Normally, no foul is called if there is no contact between players, however there are exceptions (e.g., a player throwing a punch and missing). What is the correct call in the following situation.

Blue player is going towards the goal in the box, Green defender is coming in with a hard slide. If there is contact, no doubt a PK will be called due to reckless foul, in the last second the attacker jumps in order to not being hurt. As a result there is no contact, however, because of the awkward jump the attacker falls on the ground.

Is a PK awarded?
What if the tackle would have been “excessive force” foul if not the the jump?
What if this a DOGSO situation?

Thanks

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Sagy,
you can compare it to strike or attempt to strike.
Foul is trip /attempt to trip, most likely a DFK would be awarded and a PK would occur.
If the DOGSO criteria were met then it would be again likely the red card would follow!
Then again dependant on a referee's angle of view maybe a reasonable play with a foul, PK awarded and a caution to nothing at all. While there are VARIABLES excessive force is a big red flag
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Sagy
Frequent visitors to the site will know that I like to refer to this challenge on this type of question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZJn4UgpjY4

Rooney in Red lunges at the Blue player making no contact on the ball or the player. The referee adjudges it to be a reckless challenge which is a caution and a direct free kick restart.
Law 12 tells us that in respect of these type of challenges it is an offence punished by a direct free kick or a penalty kick if a player commits one of the following offences against an opponent in a manner considered by the referee to be careless, reckless or using excessive force:
# jumps at
# kicks or attempts to kick
# tackles or challenges
# trips or attempts to trip

The catch all one is tackles or challenges in a careless or reckless manner.

So to answer your question a penalty kick could be awarded for the challenge you describe. That's the answer on paper yet in reality will a referee call a penalty on a no contact challenge? Might the fall be seen as simulation?


As to the disciplinary sanction it should likely be a caution when reckless and highly unlikely to be a red card without contact. It can be a red card yet it is a hard sell without contact. I'm thinking of a two footed lunge towards the player that misses both the ball and the player. A referee might take a very stern approach to that yet even let it slide.
Have a look at this video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dmZcFRB-1wo
The first challenge was a penalty kick and if the referee wanted to the goalkeeper could have been red carded. At a minimum it was a caution. It appears the game was restarted with a goal kick and no card.
The goalkeeper paid not attention to the advice from the referee and he committed the exact same offence a short while later this time making heavy contact which was a stonewall red card for serious foul play.


If the conditions for a DOGSO exist on any offence punished by either a direct free kick or indirect free kick the player will be dismissed. A penalty award and a genuine attempt tp play the ball would not be a DOGSO red card.

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Sagy,
It's very difficult if not impossible to say, for any given incident, what the "correct call" should be based purely on a written description. In fact even when seeing the same incident different referees might still judge it differently.

So we can't really say what the definitively correct call would be only what would be the range of possible calls based on what the referee in charge of the game has seen and how they perceive it.

So while as my colleagues have correctly pointed out this could be given as an offence and a penalty kick (since you say this occurred in the penalty area), it's also possible that the referee might decide that no offence has occurred.

Having said that and again based just on a written description in which we can really only make a speculative judgment, it does sound as if there was a careless or reckless attempt to challenge here and so it's very possible if not probable that an offence has been committed.

If the referee did decide that this was not only an offence but also constituted DOGSO and a penalty is awarded then they would further have to decide whether the challenge was an attempt to play the ball or not. If the referee decides it was an attempt to play the ball and gives a penalty there will be a yellow card rather than a red card. If on the other hand referee decides that this was not an attempt to play the ball then a red card would result.