Question Number: 935

Doug Kenyon of , Wa asks...

A Cautionable offense is (as I have learned them) a PUDDLE. Persistent Infringement, Unsporting Behavior, Delay of Game, Dissent, Leaving the Field without permission, Entering the field without permission..Many cautions I see have to do with 'hard' fouls. A player taking out another player instead of going for the ball etc. This does not fall neatly into one of the above cautionable offenses. When such a caution is given (and, I should add, is the correct call) what should the actual offense be labeled? It cannot be persistent infringement since it might be the first time. I can only see unsporting behavior. Is this what most give for this offense?

Answer provided by Referee Victor Matheson

First of all, don't forget about "failing to respect the required distance on restarts." There are actually 7 cautaionable offenses. Your new acronym is PUDDDLE. As for your question, unsporting behavior is the catch-all caution. In Major League Soccer, roughly 90% of all cautions are for unsporting behavior.

Answer provided by Referee Stacy Kalstrom

Unsporting Behavior is the catchall reason to issue a caution. If something is happening on the pitch, which in your opinion should not be allowed, but doesn't fall under the other cautionable offenses, it can always be unsporting behavior...If a player commits a bad tackle in a reckless manner, you should call the foul, point the direction and then issue a caution (yellow card) for the misconduct. The misconduct would be recorded as unsporting behavior...Good luck on the pitch and thanks for visiting our website.

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