Technical offenses are those fouls that are punishable by the award of an indirect free kick. There are five such offences mentioned in Law 12. The interpretation of two of these offenses, "dangerous play" and "impeding an opponent," cause as many problems between referees and players, coaches, and fans, as any rules in soccer.

"Impeding the progress of an opponent" (formerly known as "obstruction") is defined by FIFA as "running between the opponent and the ball, or interposing the body so as to form an obstacle to an opponent." However, this doesn't mean that anytime a player places her body between the ball and an opponent she is guilty of obstruction. Players who are within playing distance of the ball have every right to shield the ball from opponents with their body without being called for a foul. Furthermore, the player doesn't have to actually play the ball to be innocent of obstruction. Simply being within playing distance of the ball (close enough to reach out and touch the ball) is enough to mean that the player cannot be called for impeding an opponent. Thus, when the ball rolling out of bounds or towards the goalkeeper and a player runs just behind the ball to prevent an opponent from reaching the ball, as long as the player is within playing distance of the ball this is not obstruction, even if the player makes no attempt to play the ball.

The second problematic technical offense is "playing in a dangerous manner" which is commonly referred to as "dangerous play." Put very simply, dangerous play occurs anytime a player is engages in activities that endanger himself or another player.

The two most commonly called types of dangerous play are the "high kick" and "playing on the ground" although neither of these offenses are specifically mentioned anywhere in the FIFA Laws of the Game. The key point here is that "high kicking" and "playing on the ground" are not necessarily offenses and should only be whistled if they endanger someone. A player who is on the ground and becomes entangled with the ball or other players endangers himself, so a foul should be called. A player who kicks at a ball up at shoulder level when other players are very near by also is guilty of dangerous play. Similarly, a player who bends down to head a ball that would normally be played by the feet is placing himself at danger, and therefore, if in the opinion of the referee the play is dangerous, the referee should call a foul on the player attempting to head the ball. However, in the frequent cases where a high kick occurs when no one is near by or when a player plays the ball on the ground but does not endanger anyone, these are not fouls and should not be called.

See letter to the editor concerning this article May 8,2000



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