Question Number: 35780

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 10/28/2024

RE: Rec Adult

Buzz Bee of Bracknell, Not Specified United Kingdom asks...

Is kicking the ball away a bookable offense?

My view (Happy to be corrected) is that kicking the ball away isn't actually an offense, but an action sometimes taken that commits an offense.

For example, a very high profile situation in this season's English Premier League saw Declan Rice of Arsenal sent off, when he kicked the ball away as his oponent was about to take a quick free kick. In my view, the offense he was booked for was not kicking the ball away, but delaying the re-start. Kicking the ball away was just HOW he prevented it

Likewise, you can be booked for kicking the ball away in anger at a refereeing decision, but the offense is dissent, not kicking the ball away. Kicking the ball away is just the way you showed that dissent!

If you are 1-0 up in the second half and the ball goes out of play and the player kicks the ball into the stands to run the clock down, the offence is time wasting, not kicking the ball away. Kicking the ball away is just the action used to waste time

In the game I mentioned earlier, Arsenal fans were upset, because earlier in the game, Joao Pedro had chased a ball and not quite caught it, before it went out of play. In frustration at not reaching the ball, he kicked the ball away. Being frustrated at himself is not a bookable offence, but the question now is... Is it a bookable offence, just that he kicked the ball away. No one was attempting a re-start, he was not disagreeing with a referee and there was no time wasting, as the game was being played with muti-ball and there was another ball right next to him that could be used for the throw in

So, to summerise - Is kicking the ball away an offence or just a method of committing other offences?

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi
Yes you are correct. Kicking the ball away in certain situations can be delaying the restart or dissent. In itself it is not an offence yet put it into a context of a restart or a referee decision it is an action that can attract a sanction. A player could legitimately boot the match ball away out of play a distance during play which can use up time and it would not be sanctioned with a caution. Even trying to keep the ball in play and failing with the ball being kicked away a distance is never a caution.

You might recall a few seasons ago Van Persie getting sent off for taking a shot after an offside decision in a ECL game. The referee cautioned him for what looked like delaying the restart. Van Persie claimed he did not hear the whistle!