Question Number: 22758

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 1/25/2010

RE: Say Soccer Under 13

Mike of Reading, Oh USA asks...

I have a hard time knowing when to call Tripping. I have operated on the assumption that if player A contacts the ball (via tackle) prior to tripping player B that it is NOT a foul, and that if player B is tripped without player A touching the ball first, it IS a foul. However, in watching other Refs in kid's soccer, it's apparent that tripping gets called quite frequently, even if there was no tackle and, in my opinion, the player who goes down merely tripped over their opponent's legs in a clumsy manner. How do I know if it's really the opponent's fault or if the player who goes down was just unable to avoid falling? Please help me understand exactly when to call Tripping as a foul and when not to.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Referee Mike
The Player A&B assumptions that you quote are correct. If a player while tackling an opponents contacts the ball first and afterward there is a coming together that is not a foul, unless of course there is a subsequent deliberate trip where say the opponents tries to get up to follow the ball and he is prevented in his effort to do so by a trip. If the player is tripped before contact with the ball that is most definitely a foul. One can hear ' But I got the ball Ref' when the whistle sounds.

Please remember also that a foul does not have to be deliberate to be called a foul. If two players are running for the ball and a player is tripped up in a clumsy manner by an opponent then that is a foul. It is careless on behalf of the opponent and the player has been deprived of playing the ball or attempting to play the ball by that foul.

Put it another way. Say two players are running together and one falls to the ground. What action caused that to happen? Take a sport like running. A large group of runners can run together without being tripped up so what actions in soccer then causes someone to fall to the ground? Okay, at underage the referee can take into account the motor skills of the players and there may be trifling contact. There will be situations where as you say the player who goes down has made the clumsy contact. Yes there will be situations where both players come together and both are careless. Those are not fouls and only good foul recognition will identify those. However those players that are quicker, more agile should not be punished on the basis that an opponent made a clumsy challenge such as sticking out a leg that brought the player to the ground and probably gained possession of the ball unfairly.

Referees are not in the mind reading business and they must decide based on what they see. Indeed the vast majority of fouls are not deliberate but challenges where the opponent has tried to play the ball fairly, made a mistake, missed the ball and tripped up an opponent.

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Answer provided by Referee Gary Voshol

The Laws were changed to remove references to contact with the ball when deciding whether or not a tackle was a foul. That's because too many players thought 'I got the ball' entitled them to take out the opponent after kicking the ball. Not so.

You are correct that if the player's leg remains near to the ground after kicking the ball (for example, on a slide tackle), then the opponent is expected to be able to jump over the leg, not go down in a heap. But if the leg is raised, or is whipped back, that is a tripping action and the foul should be called, no matter that the ball was contacted first. Or if after contacting the ball the player continues to slide through the opponent, that is a foul.

It takes some experience to tell the difference. Particularly as players get into their teens, they get tricky in attempts to hide their foul behavior. Also at that time, some players begin to dive in an attempt to get a foul called. The referee must remain constantly vigilant.

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Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

'I got the ball' is not a defense. A careless tackle or trip can still be a foul. However, you correctly note the converse. A perfectly timed tackle will not be a foul even if the opponent subsequently falls over the outstretched leg.

Note the timing, the contact, the force, the speed, the angle and height of the leg, and the player's control of self and ball. These will aid in determining fair or foul.

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