Question Number: 34546

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 3/31/2022

RE: Adult

Jack Johnson of London, london United Kingdom asks...

Could a player receive a yellow card for a reckless challenge after the referee has signalled a foul against the other team - e.g. Player A handballs and the ref blows just before Player B takes out Player A with a reckless challenge?

Answer provided by Referee Peter Grove

Hi Jack,
Technically, as described, this would not be caution for a reckless challenge because that would require the ball to be in play. When an incident such as you describe takes place, it is considered misconduct rather that a foul and if there is a yellow card the only category that really fits is the "catch-all" one of unsporting behavior.

Another possibility is if the referee decides the late challenge was more than reckless, and rises to the level of violent conduct, which would require a red card.

Now, in one very real sense player is still being penalized for the reckless challenge it's just the technicality of which clause in the laws is used and (for instance) which caution code would be submitted by the referee, that changes.

Answer provided by Referee Jason Wright

Hi Jack,

Absolutely. Now, technically - and this is more for the referees reading this question - a reckless challenge can only occur while the ball is in play. Something like this would fall under unsporting behaviour.

So, if we're talking about an instance where we can't blame the player for it being after the whistle - eg the whistle is blown a moment before contact, or they've already committed the foul, then I would usually judge it just like I would if the ball was still in play. If it would normally meet the standard of 'reckless', it's a card. I have done this - once I even did it when the 'reckless' tackle occurred a split second after I blew the whistle for half-time.

It would make no sense for the player to get a free pass on a bad 'challenge' just because a whistle has been blown.

If we're talking about a situation where play has clearly stopped and they've chosen to kick/trip/red if particularly dangerous, of course), when it's quite late and they should have stopped, I'd expect an automatic yellow and upgrade to a red depending on the force used and other factors - to be clear, an incident which would only earn a yellow card in the first example would earn a red here, because the fact that the player is expected to have stopped makes it more serious.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Jack
The answer is yes.
In your example the deliberate handling offence is called against Player A and Player B is cautioned for misconduct for the reckless challenge. The restart is still a direct free kick to Player B's team.

Also it makes no difference whether the whistle has sounded or not as that only signals the referee's decision which would be deliberate handling in your example,

Another example would be a player in an offside position who plays the ball and he is recklessly challenged almost immediately by an opponents. The offside offence happened first which means an IDFK to the defending team. However that does not exonerate the defender for his reckless challenge action which is a caution or maybe even a red card if excessive force was used. The IDFK for offside restart does not change.

If they are without doubt simultaneous offences in that the referee cannot discern which offence happened first the referee will penalise the more serious offence. The law states that the referee punishes the more serious offence, in terms of sanction, restart, physical severity and tactical impact, when more than one offence occurs at the same time.

Those are very rare when two players are involved as generally one happens first. In the case of say an offside positioned player handling the ball the handling is the offence that is punished.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Jack
If it's a late reckless type of a challenge while the ball is in play, on the FOP and the official had already determined there WOULD be a stoppage for a DFK or INDFK event or even if the play was not stopped, for say an advantage, as of yet unrealized, all players at any time cannot engage in reckless misconduct against an opponent. If the action is cautionable then the yellow card can be shown at the appropriate time. A player can be shown the yellow card for USB misconduct at ANY TIME including when the ball is not in play or even not on the FOP.

The precedent the LOTG have set is if one team commits a foul for which there will be stoppage & a free kick restart & before such stoppage is signaled that same team that is going to be awarded that free-kick commits their own foul thus depriving themselves of a possible advantage given they are not simultaneous the 2nd event is classified as misconduct after the fact. This is true if the whistle sounds and then the impacting challenge occurs.

If there WAS an advantage given and the advantage WAS realized as there WAS no stoppage, then that 2nd foul becomes the reason for a NEW stoppage!

In a match where a player had reached over the shoulder to tug an attacker back on a fast break, the tug was shrugged off, the attacker kept moving forward, advantage could be considered? If the proximity of that defender irritated the attacker, so back comes an elbow and that defender is now prostrate on the ground. Whistle sounds. There could be some contention as to whether we caution, show a yellow card to the defender for the USB pullback while we show the red card to the attacker and send him off as his team sets up for their free-kick with 10 players.. There could be even more contention should the official considered the advantage was realized and the elbow was a NEW foul event and the defenders get the DFK out. It is WHY if advantage is in play LET them know as it helps prevent retaliation!

To clarify though in your scenario play is ALREADY stopped thus the 2nd event is ONLY misconduct.
Cheers