Question Number: 34512

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 2/22/2022

RE: Youth-Adult, Competitive and Rec.

Barry Stewart of Chilliwack, BC Canada asks...

Final question (though they may appear in reverse oder...):
this one is from the Jamaica-Mexico game.

There's a 50-50-ish (60-40?) ball and the Jamaican player comes in hard and contacts the ball before slamming into the Mexican player, who is turning away from the contact.

Jamaican player gets the straight red card.

Q: If the Mexican had stood his ground and resisted the Jamaican, is the card turning yellow or becoming a simple foul?

What are the elements that make this a red card call? I thank you for your valuable advice.

(Heading out to ref a mixed 7-a-side night game in a stiff breeze and -10º C wind chill!)

Apologies for the rough video quality, but I think the keys are there.

https://photos.imageevent.com/barstewart/soccerreffing/concacaf2022/IMG_0192.mov

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Barry
This is a stonewall red card. When making the challenge the Yellow player follows through with his studs above the opponents ankle. It is a leg breaking type challenge and it must be sanctioned with a red card for serious foul play.
Players will say that they got the ball and that can be the case yet that does not give a player a free pass at following through into an opponent in a manner that endangers the safety of that opponent.
This tackle is made using excessive force, the player has exceeded the necessary use of force and is in danger of injuring his opponent. The challenge goes beyond the risk of endangering the safety of an opponent. It is a challenge while maybe not malicious, or has violent intent is nonetheless going beyond an acceptable manner of challenge with the follow through into an opponent. He simply does not care that he will make heavy contact on an opponent.

The advice to referees in the Laws of the Game state “Any player who lunges at an opponent inchallenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent, is guilty of serious foul play” therefore the player must be shown the red card.
It is vitally important that we as referees identify such challenges and are strong in dealing with them, punishing correctly with either the award of a free kick or penalty kick and the dismissal of the offending player.

Giving the importance of recognising such challenges, referees are asked to consider if the challenge moves from reckless into the serious foul play category. I came across the following questions which are posed to help referees to correctly identify the offence:
A. Does the player have a chance of playing the ball in a fair manner?
B. Can the player legitimately play the ball without putting his opponent at undue risk?
C. What degree of speed or intensity is the player using when making the challenge?
D. What is the distance the player has travelled to challenge for the ball?
E. Is the player making the challenge off the ground/airborne and in control of his actions?
F. What was the position of the feet of the player making the challenge?
G. Did the player lead with his studs showing when making the tackle?
H. Does the player show clear malice or brutality when making the challenge?
I. Does the challenge clearly endanger the safety of the opponent?

In the example shown I would opine that the challenge met C, D, E, F, G and most importantly the last one I. Add all those together and that is why it is a stonewall red card. I recently sat through part of a new referee course as part of instructor training and it showed a number of videos like the example shown. New referees were asked to consider if the challenge merited a yellow or red card. One of the key points in the instruction was that contact on the shin and above with intensity was to be considered a red card. This would have been shown as a clear red card offence.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Barry,
Red should be the ONLY colour a referee considers given that's a leg breaking tackle applied with reckless disregard & considerably force.
It is in my opinion SFP ( serious foul play) I tend to have some faith there was no actual malice in that tackle in terms of an attempt to injure but the bar must be set, SAFTEY is important. winning the ball is nice just not AS important! The ball was there to be challenged and each player has the right to do so but to come in fast & hard, over the top, studs up into the shin and stepping down and twisting away never ends well. Of course sometimes your angle of view will be blocked and it will occur at a high speed and you will NOT have VAR review camera. What did I just see? There was no hint of fair? No good mechanics in the lead up? A good solid square side foot block? Was it a run into and through? Did it make me bite my lip, raise the whistle and churn my guts?
Cheers