Question Number: 15145

Law 12 - Fouls and Misconduct 4/9/2007

RE: Club Soccer College

George Brady of Middletown, Connecticut USA asks...

Hello. I have been playing soccer my whole life. I am a decent player, usually a center midfielder or center defensive midfielder. I've been getting into some arguments with a friend of mine about my aggression when I go in for a ball. It is not uncommon for me to dispossess someone and knock them down in the process. In these situations, the impact I make on the ball is what causes the person to fall; I am not kicking them or pushing them, it's just that I'll kick the ball with such force that the person is forced back. On some occassions, my knee might connect with the other person's knee, but again, I'm playing the ball, not the person. I've played like this my whole life, and I have never had fouls called on me for it. My friend says it is a foul, because I should not be going in so hard (I've knocked him down many times when we've played, unintentionally). He says I can use my upper body and my elbows to keep people away from the ball, but I can't go head on for a ball and knock the person down. I understand you can't tackle from behind, which I never do, and you can't intentionally trip someone up, but I didn't know it was a foul to go for a head on challenge and the person falls or trips as a result of two people kicking the ball at the same time and one falls because the other one is bigger and stronger (I'm a big guy, 6 feet 200 pounds, athletic). Please tell me who is correct, if either of us, and what the rule actually is. Thank you.

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

Hi George-
Soccer (aka Football/futbol) is not a non-contact sport. (Don't you just love those "not not" statements!) It is combative and that's what make it so exciting to watch. However there are boundaries to the combat and one must make a play for the ball that is fair. Law 12 (Fouls and Misconducts) specifically outlines these boundaries in the following statments:
" A direct free kick is awarded to the opposing team if a player commits any of the following six offences in a manner considered by the referee to be CARELESS, RECKLESS or USING EXCESSIVE FORCE [emphasis mine]:
* kicks or attempts to kick an opponent
* trips or attempts to trip an opponent
* jumps at an opponent
* charges an opponent
* strikes or attempts to strike an opponent
* pushes an opponent"

Please note the manner by which a referee can consider play for the ball to be foul play.

The second half of the initial boundary set forth in the opening paragraphs of Law 12 continues to set requirements for considering foul play:
A direct free kick is also awarded to the opposing team if a player
commits any of the following four offences:

* TACKLES AN OPPONENT TO GAIN POSSESSION OF THE BALL, MAKING CONTACT WITH THE OPPONENT BEFORE TOUCHING THE BALL [emphasis mine]
* holds an opponent
* spits at an opponent
* handles the ball deliberately (except for the goalkeeper within his own penalty area).

As you can see in the all capitalized statement it is a foul, regardless of the manner used, to make contact with the opponent before touching the ball. HOWEVER.....We, as referees are admonished to allow the game to play and punish only the SERIOUS fouls and not the trifling or doubtful offenses. What is serious and what is trifling is based upon the framework stated above and upon the OPINION OF THE REFEREE. You come in hard and blow an opponent off the ball -- that is, in all likelihood, foul play -- regardless if you were "playing the ball" or not. The LOTG (laws of the game) specifically took the wording "intentional" out because it is impossible for the referee to crawl into anyone's brain an know true "intent." We can surmize based upon actions what we THINK intent may have been --- thus "in the opinion of the referee" but that is all. And if the opinion of the referee is that you committed an offense based on your play for the ball, then you did. It is not a democracy or democratic republic where the opinion of the player counts towards deciding whether an offense has or has not been committed. You can have the opinion that the referee is missing their head - heck I can have the opinion that a player (or dare I say coach) is equally having difficulty finding their head, but that has nothing to do with whether or not a foul is going to be called or not. We snotty, spoiled little children Americans think that we have to agree with it before it is so. Thankfully, the LOTG were codified by a group of people that got beyond themselves in there thinking.

Answer provided by Referee Ben Mueller

It is a foul if a player carelessly, reckessly, or with excessive force trips, pushes, kicks, charges, jumps at, strikes, or holds an opponent. Also, if you handle the ball deliberatly or make contact with an opponent first when tackling for possession of the ball. Also, spitting an an opponent is a foul. The referee must make a decision if your contact was careless, reckless, or with excessive for. It is not a foul everytime there is contact and vice-versa is also true. There can be no contact and stil a foul. LOTG say trips or attempts to trip and kicks or attempts to kick. Thus if a player attempts to strike, but misses, it is still a foul. If there is contact, referee must decide if calling the foul would be trifiling or not appropriate to call for that game. Perhaps you are playing a friendy soccer game with your friends and they just want you to ease up.

Answer provided by Referee Keith Contarino

You kick the ball so hard you knock your opponent down? Really? Thats quite a feat. If what you say is true, you are correct, you may kick the ball as hard as you like. If the referee sees you kick,trip,push the opponent, you're going to get a whistle