Question Number: 35204

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 11/7/2023

RE: Amateur Adult

Mühenned Elseyho of Onikisubat, Kahramanmaras Turkey asks...

https://youtu.be/Z_iVaRCFIKE?feature=shared


Is such a sliding tackle true?

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

Hi Mühenned,
Is this indoor futsal?
There maybe a local or completion rule, where indoor slide tackles are not allowed?
If there is a no slide rule, then perhaps that is a reason. That is something we do not know?

What history was within the game? Was this game getting out of hand? Maybe a settle down call?

The single angle of view we have is not great so if the on field referee saw it as a foul, so be it!

Although it kind of looked like he got to the ball first and did not take out the player by going through him but rather the attacker fell over, look at where the ball ended up? I thought is was well blocked and a decent challenge.

In my opinion only, I see no reason that same tackle in an 11 aside outdoor soccer match might just be .play on!
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Muhanned
In indoor soccer competition rules can be amended to include a no sliding rule for safety reasons. I once came across an incident where a referee enforced a head height ball rule in an indoor game only to find after the game that it did not apply in that particular competition . The game had to be replayed after protest.

Assuming slide tackling is allowed then the viewing angle here is not clear. What I did not like about it was that the tackler looked like he had both feet close together in the challenge. That would be be a frowned on type of challenge and from a front on view is could have looked iffy if both feet were seen close together at the ball.
Have at look at the challenges at 27secs. Minimal if any contact on Blue yet a foul and a caution.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5QUu1LBneyw&pp=ygUZdHdvIGZvb3RlZCB0YWNrbGUgY2hlbHNlYQ%3D%3D

The second part for me is that the referee may be safety conscious and he may not have liked the all in slide which is likely to take ball and the follow on makes contact on the player. That can be considered careless in the opinion of a referee and a foul.

Thirdly the game could be getting somewhat *aggressive* with players not holding back. I played the indoor game for many years after stopping the 11 a side game and at times play tended to get somewhat aggressive with players making some strong challenges that ran the risk of injury. Players many times needed to be reigned in on overly robust challenges in the indoor setting for fear of injury. It was recreational for us so the last thing we needed was a trip to the accident and emergency unit after a heavy challenge which could still be legal.

The real answer here is the explanation given by the referee on the day. We can say it looks okay, it looks iffy, is it a no slide rule decision, it looks a risky challenge etc. All that matters is that the referee is consistent and calls similar tackles as offences during the game.