Question Number: 13879

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 9/23/2006

RE: Select Under 15

Franco of Bloomington, IN USA asks...

LAW 12

It says that there are 10 DFK fouls. It separates then into two groups. The group of six indicates the referee has to determine the situation to call it a foul whereas the group of four is totally based on whether it happended or not.

I want to ask a question about one from the group of six.

"A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if any of following six offenses is committed in the opinion of the referee in a manner that is a careless, reckless or using excessive force"

I am interpretting this paragraph to mean that those six offenses if committed in a certain manner, judgment call by the ref, will THEN become a foul. That means to me that in some cases these can be committed and no foul committed becasue they were judged by the referee to be not careless, reckless or excessive force.

If I am correct then I understand that (accidental tripping, etc)no foul, but the one that gives me a problem is STRIKING. How can striking not be a foul regardless of any other determinations like the group of four of DFK fouls? Is it possible to strike someone in a manner that is not careless, reckless or with excessive force? Is it possible to strike someone and it not be some type of foul?

The advice to referee booklet goes on to indicate in its definition of these instances that a careless foul= no card, reckless foul= yellow card, excessive force foul=red card. I give red for striking an opponent regardless, but this advice makes it seem there is carless striking, reckless striking and excesive force striking.

A foul occurs and the ref gives a straight red and awards a DFK. Was the DFK given for the foul and the card issued for CONDUCT?
My point is after whatever foul and whatever card is shown, is the kick awarded based on the foul, but the card is always based on the conduct, the act itself or if the act was committed in a reckless manner or with excessive force.

Franco

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

Sounds to me like you have a good understanding of this. Yes, the kick is awarded based on the foul. If the referee considers it to be just careless, then it is no card. Reckless = yellow and excessive force = red. You as a referee must decide what is to be called and what is considered trifiling. If it is just an accidental bumb, you probably will call nothing. If 2 players legs tangle, you probably will call nothing. On the other hand if a player trips another player in an effort to play the ball, the trip may still be called, but only careless. As far as striking, you are correct that it is hard to accidentally strike another player. Most likely, you will call the strike and the majority of the time issue a card.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

Franco, I'm with you on this one as it confused me for a long time. It's theoretically possible to accidently strike an opponent and this would result in no foul. But if it's not accidental I, like you, find it difficult to see how to differentiate between careless, reckless ane excessive force. is a light jab careless, a hook reckless and a roundhouse punch excessive force? I agree with you, if a player, in my opinion, delberately strikes an opponent, or TRIES to, he's going to be sent off for SFP or VC. That said, the restart is for the FOUL not the misconduct, so the restart if on the FOP and the ball is in play and the action is between 2 players, will always be a DFK or PK depending on where it occured. the other 5 make perfect sense.

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